Head and Neck Directorate NHS Lothian and University of Edinburgh, UK.
Oral Oncol. 2011 Aug;47(8):698-701. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2011.04.022.
Although it is now well established that a significant proportion of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) harbour oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) sequences, the frequency with which these sequences are detected in oral SCC (excluding oropharyngeal subsites) is highly variable. In an attempt to establish the true prevalence of HPV-16 and HPV-18 subtypes in oral SCC, we screened 142 consecutive cases from a UK cohort using both conventional PCR with consensus primers and type-specific quantitative PCR (Q-PCR), while at the same time employing a rigorous protocol to avoid sample contamination. Q-PCR revealed HPV sequences in five cases; two contained HPV-16 alone, two HPV-18 alone, and one sample carried both genotypes. However, only two of these cases (both HPV-16-positive) had moderate viral loads (51 and 91 viral copies per 100 cells respectively) and were positive for HPV DNA by conventional PCR. Both cases contained HPV DNA in tumour cells as shown by Q-PCR analysis of micro-dissected tissue and by in situ hybridisation. The remaining three cases had only very low viral loads (between 3 and 7 viral copies per 100 cells), were negative by conventional PCR and lacked HPV DNA in tumour cells. Our data provide strong evidence that oncogenic HPV is uncommon in oral SCC and that routine HPV testing of these tumours cannot be advocated.
虽然现在已经明确，相当一部分口咽鳞状细胞癌（SCC）携带致癌性人类乳头瘤病毒（HPV）序列，但这些序列在口腔 SCC（不包括口咽亚部位）中的检测频率差异很大。为了确定 HPV-16 和 HPV-18 亚型在口腔 SCC 中的真实流行率，我们使用常规 PCR 与通用引物和型特异性定量 PCR（Q-PCR）对来自英国队列的 142 例连续病例进行了筛选，同时采用严格的方案避免样本污染。Q-PCR 在五例中检测到 HPV 序列；其中两例仅含有 HPV-16，两例仅含有 HPV-18，一例同时携带两种基因型。然而，这些病例中只有两例（均为 HPV-16 阳性）具有中度病毒载量（分别为每 100 个细胞 51 和 91 个病毒拷贝），并且通过常规 PCR 检测到 HPV DNA 呈阳性。这两个病例的肿瘤细胞中均含有 HPV DNA，这是通过对微切割组织的 Q-PCR 分析和原位杂交证实的。其余三个病例的病毒载量非常低（每 100 个细胞 3 到 7 个病毒拷贝之间），常规 PCR 检测为阴性，肿瘤细胞中缺乏 HPV DNA。我们的数据提供了强有力的证据表明，致癌性 HPV 在口腔 SCC 中并不常见，不能提倡对这些肿瘤进行常规 HPV 检测。
