Warty carcinoma of the oral mucosa in an HIV+ patient

The authors present the case of a 36-year-old HIV+ male patient with a 1-cm diameter papillary exophytic lesion of the right cheek. Microscopic examination showed a papillary epithelial neoplasm with invasion of the stroma in the peripheral part. Cellular and nuclear atypia were present in the superficial and in the deep layers of the neoplasm. An in situ hybridization for human papillomavirus (HPV) 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 35 and 51 was performed. A focal positivity only for HPV 16 and 18 was present in koilocytotic cells of the most peripheral portion of the lesion. The microscopic definitive diagnosis was warty carcinoma of the cheek. No recurrence was observed at a 3-year follow-up.