The objective of present study is to investigate  if HPV infection has any association with p16, p53 and any of the clinicopathological parameters in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Esophageal cancers are lethal malignancies characterized by early recurrence local tumor aggressiveness and hence poor clinical outcome The survival studies show survival varies from 33 to 70 percent Squamous forms the majority of all carcinomas  The studies done to observe HPV role in the pathogenesis of esophageal cancers have had diabolical results The HPV infection has also been studied with respect to various clinicopathological parameters to suggest if it has any prognostic significance Many studies have compared p16 and p53 expression with respect to HPV  infection in order to find a surrogate marker for HPV The objective of present study is to study if HPV infection has any association with p16 p53 and any of the clinicopathological parameters  METHODS Present study was done in the Department of Pathology at MMIMSR Mullana  Ambala It was a cross-sectional study done over a period of 2 years 10 months in 57 patients who were diagnosed to have esophageal cancer Cases with prior chemotherapy and radiotherapy were excluded  RESULTS Majority of the patients around 60 percent were diagnosed in 6th and 7th decade of life with esophageal cancer Male to female ratio was even ie 1 is to 1 Most common presenting complaint was dysphagia seen in around 95 percent of cases The most common site of tumor was middle third of esophagus in 44 out of 57 cases The most common type of lesion was exophytic growth which was seen in around 79 percent. The most common type of carcinoma was Squamous cell carcinoma seen in 93 percent. HPV infection was seen in around 60 percent of cases. p16 and p53 staining positivity was observed in 28 out of 55 and 44 out of 55 respectively. The staining was also graded on intensity and pattern. None of the clinicopathological parameters showed any statistical correlation with HPV, however statistically significant correlation was observed between p16 and HPV   CONCLUSION This study showed p16 IHC can be used as a surrogate marker for HPV