Premium
Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck outside the oropharynx is rarely human papillomavirus related
Author(s) -
Upile Navdeep S.,
Shaw Richard J.,
Jones Terry M.,
Goodyear Paul,
Liloglou Triantafillos,
Risk Janet M.,
Boyd Mark T.,
Sheard Jon,
Sloan Phil,
Robinson Max,
Schache Andrew G.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.24828
Subject(s) - human papillomavirus , larynx , incidence (geometry) , medicine , immunohistochemistry , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , polymerase chain reaction , head and neck cancer , head and neck , in situ hybridization , basal cell , oncology , pathology , cancer , biology , surgery , messenger rna , gene , biochemistry , physics , optics
Objectives/Hypothesis The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)‐driven disease beyond the oropharynx varies greatly in the reported literature. Study Design Case series. Methods Two hundred twenty‐one samples were strictly classified to the subsites of oral cavity, larynx, or hypopharynx at the time of primary surgery. Formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded samples were subjected to a validated, tiered, diagnostic algorithm of p16 immunohistochemistry, high‐risk HPV in situ hybridization, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction for HPV E6 DNA. An additional 60 oropharyngeal cases acted as an internal biological control. Results An incidence of 4% of HPV‐driven cases was observed across the subsites outside the oropharynx compared to 70% of tumors confined within it. Conclusions This is the first reporting of a broad range of nonoropharyngeal HPV rates using this validated diagnostic algorithm. It remains unclear whether patients with HPV‐driven disease originating outside the oropharynx enjoy the same survival advantage apparent in those patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope , 124:2739–2744, 2014