To examine the potential roles of human papillomavirus (HPV) in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) development, we examined the presence of HPV DNA in paraffin-embedded ESCC tissues collected from two areas with different ESCC incidence rates in China, that is, Gansu (n ¼ 26) and Shandong (n ¼ 33), using PCR with SPF10 primers, or PCR with GP5 þ /GP6 þ primers combined with Southern blot hybridisation. HPV genotype was determined by the INNO-LiPA HPV genotyping kit. HPV DNA was detected in 17 cases (65%) in Gansu, where ESCC incidence is much higher than in Shandong, where HPV was positive in two samples (6%). HPV genotypes 16 and 18 were detected in 79 and 16% of HPV-positive samples, respectively. Real-time PCR analysis suggested the presence of integrated form of HPV DNA in all the HPV-16-positive samples, but its viral load was estimated to be only o1 -2 copies cell À1 . We could not detect HPV 16/18 E6 protein expression by immunostaining in any of the HPV-16-positive samples. Neither p16 INK4a nor p53 expression was related to HPV presence in ESCCs. Further studies seem warranted to examine the possible aetiological roles of HPV in ESCC.

Background: Epstein-Barr virus has been proved to be associated with many of the human malignancy including gastric carcinoma, one of the most important human malignancies in the world. There has been no study about the presence of EBV in gastric adenocarcinoma in Iran.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) was detected in 20 (29%) out of 69 lung carcinomas (LCs) in Chile, by PCR and Southern blot, and was more frequently detected in squamous cell carcinoma (SQC) than in adenocarcinomas (46 vs 9%, P ¼ 0.001). HPV-16, positive in 11 cases, was the most frequently detected HPV genotype determined by DNA sequencing. HPV-16 E2/E6 ratio, estimated from real-time PCR analysis, was much lower than the unity, suggesting that at least a partial HPV-16 genome was integrated in all but one HPV-16-positive SQCs. The remaining one case was suspected to have only episomal HPV-16. Although the viral load was low in most of the LCs, a case showed the HPV-16 copy number as high as 8479 per nanogram DNA, which was even a few times higher than the minimum viral load of seven cervical carcinomas (observed viral load: 3356 -609 392 per nanogram DNA). The expression of the HPV-16/18 E6 protein was found in only two HPV-16-positive SQCs (13%) but not in the case with the highest viral load. Although the viral load was in general very low and HPV E6 expression is none or weak, further studies seem warranted to examine aetiological involvement of high-risk HPV in lung carcinogenesis.

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Abstract.A number of studies have reported the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in lung carcinoma. Interestingly, its detection rate appears to differ histologically and geographically. The present study examined 30 adenocarcinomas and 27 squamous cell carcinomas of the lung in a southern area of Japan, and detected high-risk HPV genome in 9 (30%) adenocarcinomas and 2 (7%) squamous cell carcinomas, using PCR with SPF10 primers and INNO-LiPA HPV genotyping assay. The difference of HPV detection rates in adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas was statistically significant (P=0.044, Fisher's exact test). HPV-16 was the most prevalent HPV genotype, and was detected in 27% (8/30) of adenocarcinomas and in 7% (2/27) of squamous cell carcinomas. High-risk-HPV positive carcinomas had decreased proportions of pRb (P=0.107) and significantly increased proportions of p16INK4a expressing cells (P=0.031) when compared to HPV-negative lung carcinomas. All HPV-16-positive cases were considered to have an integrated form of HPV-16 but its viral load was low (geometric mean = 0.02 copy per cell). In 20 additional adenocarcinomas treated with gefitinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor specific for epidermal growth factor receptor, the presence of HPV was examined. Note that East Asian ethnicity is a predictive factor of gefitinib response. High-risk HPV genome was found in 75% (6/8) of adenocarcinomas with complete or partial response to gefitinib but was not found in the remaining 12, which did not respond to gefitinib. In conclusion, the present study suggests that high-risk HPV may be more strongly related to adenocarcinomas, particularly gefitinib-responsive adenocarcinomas, when compared to squamous cell carcinomas. However, its low viral load makes it difficult to determine the etiological significance of these findings.