Detection of human papillomavirus in Chinese esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its adjacent normal epithelium.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the putative role of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the carcinogenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in China.


METHODS
Twenty-three esophageal squamous cell carcinoma samples and the distal normal epithelium from Shanxi Province, and 25 more esophageal squamous cell carcinoma samples from Anyang city, two areas with a high incidence of esophageal cancer in China, were detected for the existence of HPV-16 DNA by PCR, mRNA in situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) targeting HPV-16 E6 gene.


RESULTS
There were approximately 64 % (31/48) patients having HPV-16 DNA in tumor samples, among them nearly two-thirds (19/31) samples were detected with mRNA expression of HPV-16 E6. However, in the normal esophageal epithelium from cancer patients, the DNA and mRNA of HPV-16 were found with much less rate: 34.7 % (8/23) and 26.1 % (6/23) respectively. In addition, at protein level detected by IHC assay, 27.1 % (13/48) tumor samples had virus oncoprotein E6 expression, while only one case of normal epithelium was found positive.


CONCLUSIONS
HPV infection, especially type 16, should be considered as a risk factor for esophageal malignancies in China.
Zhou
Xiao-Bo
XB
Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, Cancer Institute and Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100021, China.
Guo
Mei
M
Quan
Lan-Ping
LP
Zhang
Wei
W
Lu
Zhe-Ming
ZM
Wang
Quan-Hong
QH
Ke
Yang
Y
Xu
Ning-Zhi
NZ
D044466:Asian People; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000821:virology; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000821:virology*; D004947:Esophagus / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*