Detection of oncogenic human papillomavirus in sporadic retinoblastoma

Purpose: To investigate the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in tumour tissue from patients with unilateral retinoblastoma. Methods: Samples of paraffin-embedded tumour tissue from 43 children with unilateral retinoblastoma were collected to investigate the presence of HPV DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and dot blot hybridization. Results: Oncogenic HPV DNA types 16 and 35 were detected in 12 (27.9%) of 43 tumour specimens. A higher frequency of differentiated tumours (63.3%) was observed among the HPV-positive tumours. Conclusions: Future studies are necessary to demonstrate an association between HPV and sporadic retinoblastoma.