Association Between Type 2 Diabetes and Viruses with Oncomodulatory Activity in Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Type 2 diabetes is a multifactorial metabolic disease characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and persistent low-grade inflammation. All of these factors lead to dysregulation of the immune system. Of particular interest is the interaction between immune dysregulation in type 2 diabetes and oncogenic viruses such as Human papillomavirus (HPV) and Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), which play an essential role in the etiology of Head and neck cancer on the one hand and have mechanisms for escaping the immune response on the other. The aim of the present study is to perform an analysis of patients with head and neck cancer divided into two groups, with and without diabetes, aimed at studying the relationship between type 2 diabetes and the established viral status. It was found that for all viruses proven by us, the frequency of positive tests for them was higher in the group with type 2 diabetes compared to the group of patients without diabetes. The study provides new insights and suggestions for a significant association between type 2 diabetes mellitus, increased prevalence of EBV, and some low-risk HPV genotypes in patients with head and neck tumors. Continuing from our previous study, the association between EBV and HPV44, after strict statistical adjustment, highlights their potential biological and clinical significance within the oncogenic environment in the presence of type 2 diabetes.