HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS PREVALENCE IN SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA OF ORAL TONGUE

Background and purpose: Oral squamous cell carcinoma usually affects men between sixth and eighth life decade. The main causative elements are alcohol consumption and tobacco use. An increase in the patient’s number with oral cancer deprived of these recognized causative factors proposes that human papillomavirus (HPV), a viral infection may be accountable for this upsurge by substitute as an oncogenic factor. In this study, the appearance of HPV infection and the clinical-pathological significance in oral SCC were examined. Place and Duration: In the Pathology, Oral and Maxillofacial surgery and Otolaryngology Department of Services Hospital Lahore for one year duration from March 2018 to March 2019. Methods: Tissue blocks were selected from 50 cases (SCC patients of the oral tongue) and 50 controls (benign diagnosed palatine tonsil tissues) were included. DNA was mined from cancerous and non-cancerous tissue blocks. Dispersed HPV DNA, conventional PCR polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and detection of high-risk genotypes were obtained using HPV 16 and 18, and the results were correlated with clinical pathological parameters. Results: HPV was positive in 50 patients (26 males and 24 females, mean age 58.36 ± 12.18 years and age range 28-87 years) and 10 (14%) patients were positive for HPV. None of the subjects in the control group had positive results in HPV DNA (p value 0.012). The HPV 16/18 genotype has not been identified in positive patients. There was no statistically substantial relationship between HPV status and age, gender, tumor stage, tumor grade or involvement of lymph nodes. Conclusion: Though the incidence of HPV is much higher in oral tongue, its relationship with carcinogenicity in this area requires further investigation