No association between antibodies to sexually transmitted infections and colorectal hyperplastic polyps in men: Minnesota Cancer Prevention Research Unit Polyp Study.

BACKGROUND Oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPV) are sexually transmitted and linked to several epithelial malignancies, but an association between HPV and colorectal neoplasia is not established. Previously, we reported a three-fold increase in the odds of colorectal hyperplastic polyps associated with oncogenic HPV seropositivity in men but detected no HPV DNA in colorectal tissues from these same men. METHODS To test the reproducibility of our prior HPV antibody results and to explore the hypothesis that colorectal hyperplastic polyps may be associated with sexual behavior in men, we conducted a case-control study of hyperplastic polyps and antibodies to eight oncogenic HPV types (including 16 and 18), Herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Study participants were men, ages 30-74 years, enrolled in the Minnesota Cancer Prevention Research Unit Polyp Study who had an index colonoscopy from 1991 to 1994, and received a diagnosis of hyperplastic polyps (n = 97) or were polyp-free (n = 184). Plasma was assessed for antibodies to the eight oncogenic HPV types, HSV-2, and HCV using a bead-based multiplex assay. RESULTS The adjusted ORs for the association between hyperplastic polyps and seropositivity to oncogenic HPV (all eight types combined) was 0.84 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.44-1.58; for HSV-2, OR, 0.98, 95% CI, 0.48-1.99; and for HCV, OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.11-3.26]. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggested no association between colorectal hyperplastic polyps and antibodies to specific sexually transmitted infections (STI) in men. IMPACT Factors associated with STIs are unlikely to play a role in the etiology of colorectal hyperplastic polyps in men.