Detection of Epstein-Barr and Human Papilloma Viruses in the Middle Ear Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

The uncommon ear tumor of middle ear squamous cell carcinoma (MESCC) is thought to be associated with the history of long-term chronic otitis media in the most cases. The main etiologic factor of MESCC is still unclear and may be multifactorial. Infections of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) are considered as one of the etiologic factor of MESCC. Previous studies have shown that the EBV and HPV have been detected in MESCC. Although the EBV and HPV have been implicated in human malignancies, their roles in pathogenesis of MESCC have not been elucidated. There has never been report on the presence of EBV and HPV in Indonesian MESCC. This study aimed to determine the presence of EBV and HPV in MESCC. Seven paraffin-embedded tissues of speciment from biopsy were analyzed for the presence of EBV and HPV by immunohistochemistry, stained using polyclonal antibody anti EBNA1 and anti HPV. The samples consisted of 4 (57 %) males and 3 (43 %) females with age range of 26-87 years old. Immunohistochemistry result demonstrated that EBV was detected in three of seven (43 %) and HPV in two of seven (29 %) samples. Coexistence of the presence of EBV and HPV were found in one of seven (14 %) sample. The presence of EBV and HPV in MESCC suggests that viral infection may play an important etiologic role in the carcinogenesis of middle ear.