Absence of human papillomavirus genomic sequences detected by the polymerase chain reaction in oesophageal and gastric carcinomas in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the occurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in oesophageal or gastric carcinomas in patients in Japan.


METHODS
103 oesophageal and 99 gastric carcinomas were investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays using two consensus (targeting either the L1 or the E6-E7 regions) and two type specific (type 16 and 18) primer sets. A beta globin gene specific primer set was also applied to examine the quality of the extracted DNA.


RESULTS
Amplification of beta globin gene was clearly visible in 92 (89.3%) of the 103 oesophageal, and 89 (89.8%) of the 99 gastric carcinoma specimens. However, the entire series of tumour DNA was negative for HPV sequences by PCR assay using all four primer sets.


CONCLUSIONS
HPV is not likely to be involved in oesophageal or gastric tumorigenesis in Japanese patients.
Saegusa
M
M
Department of Pathology, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan.
Hashimura
M
M
Takano
Y
Y
Ohbu
M
M
Okayasu
I
I
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000821:virology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000821:virology*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000821:virology*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections