Initial analysis of human papilloma virus for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in a single center in Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province

Objective To detect the infection and subtype status of human papilloma virus (HPV) for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated in a single center in Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province. Methods The primary lesion samples from 167 HNSCC patients in Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College between December 2014 and December 2016 were collected. The expression of p16 protein in tumor tissues was detected by using immunohistochemistry (IHC), and the positive rate of tumor cell p16 protein≥ 76% was used as a diagnostic standard to judge HPV in HNSCC; the relationship between p16 protein and the clinicopathological factors was analyzed. The status of HPV 16/18 DNA in tumor tissues was tested by using in situ hybridization(ISH). RNA scope was used to detect the RNA expression of 18 kinds of common high-risk HPV subtype (HPV HR 18), and the positive status of HPV HR 18 in tumor tissues with the positive cell proportion ≥ 50% of p16 protein was analyzed. Results The strong expression rate of p16 protein was 7.2% (12/167). The strong expression rate of p16 protein in the younger group ( 0.05). HPV 16/18 DNA was not found in all HNSCC primary lesions by using ISH, which showed the same result after repeated examination. RNAscope method showed that 3 cases (15.8%) out of the 19 patients with p16 protein positive rate≥50% were HPV HR 18 RNA positive. Conclusions The positive rate of HPV for HNSCC patients in Chaoshan area is low, while the patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma have the highest rate and tend to be younger. The main carcinogenic viruses of HPV for HNSCC patients in Chaoshan area are other subtypes of HPV including HPV HR 18 rather than HPV 16/18. Key words: Head and neck neoplasms; Carcinoma, squamous cell; Human papillomavirus; Chaoshan area