Open AccessVerrucous carcinoma of the head and neck – not a human papillomavirus‐related tumour?
Author(s) -
Odar Katarina,
Kocjan Boštjan J.,
Hošnjak Lea,
Gale Nina,
Poljak Mario,
Zidar Nina
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of cellular and molecular medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.44
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1582-4934
pISSN - 1582-1838
DOI - 10.1111/jcmm.12211
Subject(s) - verrucous carcinoma , polymerase chain reaction , pathology , immunohistochemistry , head and neck cancer , carcinoma , staining , biology , head and neck , cancer , medicine , gene , genetics , surgery
Association between verrucous carcinoma ( VC ) of the head and neck and human papillomaviruses ( HPV ) is highly controversial. Previous prevalence studies focused mostly on α‐ PV , while little is known about other PV genera. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of a broad spectrum of HPV in VC of the head and neck using sensitive and specific molecular assays. Formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded samples of 30 VC and 30 location‐matched normal tissue samples were analysed, by using six different polymerase chain reaction‐based methods targeting DNA of at least 87 HPV types from α‐ PV , β‐ PV , γ‐ PV and μ‐ PV genera, and immunohistochemistry against p16 protein. α‐ PV , γ‐ PV and μ‐ PV were not detected. β‐ PV DNA was detected in 5/30 VC (16.7%) and in 18/30 normal tissue samples (60.0%): HPV ‐19, ‐24 and ‐36 were identified in VC , and HPV ‐5, ‐9, ‐12, ‐23, ‐24, ‐38, ‐47, ‐49 and ‐96 in normal tissue, whereas HPV type was not determined in 2/5 cases of VC and in 6/18 normal tissue samples. p16 expression was detected in a subset of samples and was higher in VC than in normal tissue. However, the reaction was predominantly cytoplasmic and only occasionally nuclear, and the extent of staining did not exceed 75%. Our results indicate that α‐ PV , γ‐ PV and μ‐ PV are not associated with aetiopathogenesis of VC of the head and neck. β‐ PV DNA in a subset of VC and normal tissue might reflect incidental colonization, but its potential biological significance needs further investigation.