Does the expression of HPV16/18 E6/E7 in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas relate to their clinicopathological characteristics?
Human papilloma virus (HPV) has been recently proposed to be implicated in the development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in patients without cancer risk. We examined the expression of HPV16/18 E6/E7 in 71 cases of HNSCCs and investigated abnormalities of the p53 gene in 62 of these 71 cases. Expression of HPV16 E6/E7 was observed in 11 of the 71 cases (15.5%), while expression of HPV18 E6/E7 was not observed in any of the cases. Most of the HPV16 E6/E7-positive cases were histopathologically characterized by their verrucous or papillary structure and koilocytosis of the adjacent mucosa. There was no clear relationship between expression of HPV16 E6/E7 and tumor stage, prognosis or the positive rate of p53 abnormality. These results suggest that approximately 15% of HNSCCs are caused by HPV16 infection and the subsequent constitutive expression of E6 and E7, and that some HPV-initiated tumors lose their original characteristics during tumor progression.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Mibu, Shimotsuga, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan.
Yoshiko
Y
Yamakawa-Kakuta
Hitoshi
H
Kawamata
Yutaka
Y
Doi
Takahiro
T
Fujimori
Yutaka
Y
Imai
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis; D050725:Papillomavirus E7 Proteins; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011379:Prognosis; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C068651:E6 protein, Human papillomavirus type 16; C052603:E6 protein, Human papillomavirus type 18; C052633:E7 protein, Human papillomavirus type 18; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral; D050725:Papillomavirus E7 Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; C059731:oncogene protein E7, Human papillomavirus type 16