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01-06-2015 | Original Article

Prevalence of HPV infection in head and neck carcinomas shows geographical variability: a comparative study from Brazil and Germany

Authors: Franziska Hauck, Michelle Oliveira-Silva, Johannes H. Dreyer, Victor José Ferreira Perrusi, Roberto Alfonso Arcuri, Rocio Hassan, Cibele Rodrigues Bonvicino, Mario Henrique M. Barros, Gerald Niedobitek

Published in: Virchows Archiv | Issue 6/2015

Abstract

Rising prevalence rates of high-risk human papillomaviruses (hrHPV) infection in oropharyngeal carcinoma (up to 80 %) have been reported in North America and Scandinavia. We have analysed 424 German and 163 Brazilian head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) from the oral cavity (OSCC), oropharynx (OPSCC) and hypopharynx (HPSCC) using p16 immunohistochemistry, HPV DNA PCR and sequencing, hrHPV DNA in situ hybridisation (ISH) and hrHPV E6/E7 RNA ISH. In the German series, 52/424 cases (12.3 %) were p16-positive/hrHPV-positive (OSCC 3.8 % [10/265], OPSCC 34.4 % [42/122], HPSCC 0 % [0/37]). In addition, there were 9 cases that were p16-positive/hrHPV-negative (5 OPSCC and 4 OSCC). In the Brazilian series, the overall hrHPV DNA prevalence by PCR was 11.0 % ([18/163]; OSCC 6 % [5/83], OPSCC 15.5 % [11/71], HPSCC 22.2 % [2/9]). Ten of these cases were hrHPV-positive/p16-positive. The remaining 8 hrHPV-positive/p16-negative cases were also negative in both ISH assays. Furthermore, 5 p16-positive/hrHPV-negative cases (2 OPSCC and 3 OSCC) were identified. In both series, HPV16 was by far the most common HPV type detected. We confirm that regardless of geographical origin, the highest hrHPV prevalence in HNSCC is observed in oropharyngeal carcinomas. The proportion of HPV-associated OPSCC was substantially higher in the German cohort than in the Brazilian series (34.4 vs. 15.5 %), and in both groups, the prevalence of hrHPV in OPSCC was much lower than in recent reports from North America and Scandinavia. We suggest, therefore, that it may be possible to define areas with high (e.g. USA, Canada, Scandinavia), intermediate (e.g. Germany) and low (e.g. Brazil) prevalences of HPV infection in OPSCC.

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Title: Prevalence of HPV infection in head and neck carcinomas shows geographical variability: a comparative study from Brazil and Germany
Authors: Franziska Hauck
Michelle Oliveira-Silva
Johannes H. Dreyer
Victor José Ferreira Perrusi
Roberto Alfonso Arcuri
Rocio Hassan
Cibele Rodrigues Bonvicino
Mario Henrique M. Barros
Gerald Niedobitek
Publication date: 01-06-2015
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Virchows Archiv / Issue 6/2015
Print ISSN: 0945-6317
Electronic ISSN: 1432-2307
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-015-1761-4

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Prevalence of HPV infection in head and neck carcinomas shows geographical variability: a comparative study from Brazil and Germany

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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