Search

Background: Recent studies support a role for human papillomavirus (HPV) in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs); however, the significance of HPV in non-oropharyngeal head and neck cancers is uncertain. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HPV in a large cohort of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal SCCs in northern Spain., Materials and Methods: Clinical records and paraffin-embedded tumor specimens of 124 consecutive patients surgically treated for laryngeal (62 cases) and hypopharyngeal (62 cases) SCCs between 2002 and 2007 were retrieved. All cases were histologically evaluated, and presence of HPV was assessed by p16-immunohistochemistry followed by GP5+/6+-PCR-based DNA detection. Samples positive in both assays were subjected to HPV genotyping and HPV E6 transcript analysis., Results: Seventeen cases (14%) were positive for p16 immunostaining, of which 2 (1 larynx, 1 hypopharynx, 1.6% of total series) were found positive for HPV DNA by subsequent GP5+6+-PCR. Both SCCs contained HPV type 16 and showed HPV16 E6 mRNA expression., Conclusions: HPV is only occasionally involved in laryngeal and hypopharyngeal SCC patients in northern Spain., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Recent studies support an important role for human papillomavirus (HPV) in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCC), although the incidence varies widely depending on the geographic location and time period studied. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of HPV in a large cohort of OPSCC in northern Spain in the years 1990-2009. Clinical records and paraffin embedded tumor specimens of 248 consecutive patients surgically treated for OPSCC (140 tonsillar and 108 base of tongue) between 1990 and 2009 were retrieved. OPSCC cases were histomorphologically evaluated, and protein expression of p16 and p53 was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Detection of high-risk HPV DNA was performed by GP5+/6+-PCR and in situ hybridization (ISH). Thirty cases (12%) were positive for p16 immunostaining, of which eight (3.2% of the total series) were found positive for HPV type 16 by genotyping of GP5+6+-PCR products. All HPV GP5+/6+-PCR-positive tumors were p53-immunonegative, seven had a basaloid morphology and seven were also positive by HPV ISH. Presence of HPV correlated inversely with tobacco and alcohol consumption (p < 0.001), but not with age of onset of OPSCC. Overall survival was better in the HPV-positive group, although not statistically significant (p = 0.175). OPSCC patients in northern Spain demonstrated a low involvement of HPV, increasing (although not significantly, p = 0.120) from 1.8% in 1990-1999 to 6.1% of cases in 2000-2009., (© 2013 UICC.)