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Prevalence and impact on clinicopathological characteristics of human papillomavirus‐16 DNA in cervical lymph node metastases of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Weiss Daniel,
Koopmann Mario,
Rudack Claudia
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.21548
Subject(s) - medicine , lymph node , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , oncology , human papillomavirus , immunohistochemistry , cervical lymph nodes , head and neck cancer , lymph , univariate analysis , pathology , radiation therapy , multivariate analysis , cancer , metastasis
Background. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a basic risk factor for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Little knowledge exists about the impact of HPV on clinical diagnostic and therapy of patients with HNSCC. Methods. We evaluated the evidence of HPV16 in 131 retrospectively collected HNSCC and associated cervical lymph node metastases by HPV16 real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and p 16 immunohistochemistry and its impact on clinicopathological characteristics. Results. HPV16‐DNA and p 16 overexpression were present in 27% of HNSCCs. All cervical lymph node metastases of HPV16‐positive HNSCC showed HPV16‐DNA. HPV16 was strongly associated with tumors arising from the oropharyngeal site ( p < .1), favorable outcome after standard therapy in univariate ( p = .001) and multivariate ( p = .0004) analysis, and cervical lymph node metastases before primary detection. Conclusion. HPV16‐diagnostic in cervical lymph node metastases can predict the site of tumor origin in case of carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) and favorable outcome and should, therefore, be included in routine diagnostic workup. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2011