title: Presence of human papillomaviruses and p16 expression in hypopharyngeal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients with hypopharyngeal cancer have a 5-year survival of only 15% to 30%. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a risk factor and a favorable prognostic factor for oropharyngeal carcinoma and p16 has been suggested as a surrogate marker for HPV-induced cancer. However, few studies have been performed on HPV and p16 in hypopharyngeal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred nine pretreatment hypopharyngeal cancer biopsies were analyzed for presence of HPV and p16 overexpression, and the results were correlated to patient survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 109 tumors, 7 were HPV-positive (4 HPV16) and 18 overexpressed p16. There was some correlation between survival and HPV status, but not with regard to p16 expression. Notably, all patients with HPV16-positive tumors, also overexpressing p16, lived tumor free for more than 3 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that HPV-induced hypopharyngeal cancer is rare and that p16 is not a suitable biomarker for presence of HPV in this tumor type.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Malin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wendt
authors.forename: Mircea
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romanitan
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Näsman
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dalianis
authors.forename: Lalle
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hammarstedt
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marklund
authors.forename: Torbjörn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ramqvist
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Munck-Wikland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D052162:Human papillomavirus 16 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007012:Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality* / Q000821:virology*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16
keywords: head and neck cancer; human papillomavirus; hypopharynx; overall survival; p16