Changes in human papillomavirus typing of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis progressing to malignant neoplasm.

A patient with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis progressed spontaneously to carcinoma resulting in death. Serial biopsy specimens obtained during a 9-year course of this patient's disease were tested via polymerase-chain reaction and Southern hybridization to detect the human papillomavirus (HPV) types present during the patient's course of disease. Early biopsy specimens were positive for HPV types 6 and 11. As atypia progressed to carcinoma, HPV types 6 and 11 remained present, but the signal decreased and HPV 16 became increasingly positive. The significance of these findings will be discussed.