Human papillomavirus and squamous cell carcinoma

Conflicts of interest None declared. The prospective study by Paradisi et al.1 in this issue clearly linked certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV) and subsequent squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). There are a few points that need to be addressed. Firstly, temporality is the most important criterion out of the nine Hill criteria for establishing a relationship between cause and outcome.2 However, temporality in many studies of the HPV–SCC link has rarely been discerned because of the restraints of time (i.e. a long follow‐up) and sample size (i.e. a large sample). There is a dearth of prospective studies on the role of HPV in SCC. The study, originally reported in 1981 and later published in 1984, was the first to establish the role of HPVs in subsequent SCCs at the cervix, vulva, vagina and penile glans/prepuce.3 The current study is one of the few prospective studies to investigate and establish the role of HPVs in the development of SCC.1