title: The presence of Helicobacter pylori in the larynx pathologies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The well-known relation of Helicobacter pylori to the MALT-lymphoma and gastric carcinoma suggested a possible presence in the laryngeal tissues of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx by using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) investigations, and PCR results of benign laryngeal pathologies were compared.
  
  
  METHODS
  Polymerase Chain Reaction investigations were carried out in biopsy samples of 21 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and of 19 patients with benign laryngeal pathologies like vocal polyp and nodules.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The PCR results of 17 out of the 21 samples (80.9%) of the patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma were positive for H. pylori. Moreover, any genomic material of H. pylori was not found in the PCR results of the 19 patients with benign laryngeal pathology. It was also determined that the presence of the H. pylori in the patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma was statistically significant (p=0.0001). In the patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, the comparison of the H. pylori presence within the normal and tumoral tissues revealed that 16 normal tissue samples (76.19%) were positive, while 9 of the tumoral tissue samples (42.85%) were positive. The ratio of bacterial presence in both the normal and tumor tissue samples was 38.09% (8 patients). The rates of presence revealed a statistically significant difference between the normal and tumoral tissue samples (p=0.039).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of the genomic material of H. pylori within the laryngeal tissue of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx is a proof of the colonization of the bacterium in that tissue. While this may suggest a possible relation of the bacterium to the development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, no conclusion is possible to be drawn about the mechanism of the process.
authors.affiliation: Ankara Numune Education and Research Hospital, 1st ENT Clinic, Ankara, Turkey. alititiz@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Titiz
authors.forename: Olcay
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozcakir
authors.forename: Serkan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ceyhan
authors.forename: Yavuz Fuat
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Unal
authors.forename: Yakut
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Akyon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D007830:Larynx / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011127:Polyps / Q000473:pathology