(100) A Geospatial Analysis of HPV-Associated Oropharyngeal Cancer Hotspots for Targeted Intervention in South Florida

Introduction: It was estimated that 80% of oropharyngeal cancers (OPC) in the US are associated with HPV. Intervention of OPC burden in the population can be achieved by increasing the completion rates of HPV vaccine series. Geospatial analyses allow for identification of areas with high disease burden for targeted intervention on HPV vaccination uptake. This study demonstrates how geospatial hotspot analyses can be used to identify neighborhood clusters with high rates of HPV-associated OPC (HPV-OPC) and prevalent risk factors in South Florida, a four-county metropolitan area encompassing the city of Miami with a population of 6 million.

Methods: Average annual age-adjusted incidence rates of HPV-OPC were calculated for all census tracts in South Florida, using Forida cancer registry data from 2011 to 2020. Getis-Ord geospatial hotspot analyses were performed with ArcGIS Pro 3.0 to identify clusters of census tracts whose incidence rates are significantly higher than study area average.

Results: Three clusters of census tracts were identified as hotpots of HPV-OPC in South Florida. The biggest cluster in Broward County overlaps neighborhoods known to have high HIV+ rates. These hotspots are mostly occupied by racial/ethnic minorities with lower levels of income, education attainment, and completion rates of HPV vaccination.

Conclusions: Findings of this study highlight the importance of targeted interventions on HPV vaccination uptake in adolescents and young adults living in communities that have high rates of people living with HIV, who face elevated risk for developing HPV-OPC due to compromised immune functions.