Absence of HPV Infection Is Associated with Smoker Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oropharynx

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the survival of patients with SCC of the oropharynx, according to the presence of HPV and tobacco consumption. A total of 37 patients were followed up for at least 5 years after being diagnosed with SCC of the oropharynx. The biopsy tissue was submitted to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization (ISH) methods for broad determination of HPV presence, to identify the presence of high-risk viruses (16 and 18). 12 of the 37 (32.4%) samples were HPV positive, whereas the two specific types of virus were identified in two samples for HPV-16 and in no samples for HPV-18. We observed no significant effect of the virus in survival analysis, irrespective of tobacco consumption. The level of tobacco consumption was significantly higher in the group of HPV-negative patients (P = 0.0283), in which all the patients in this group were smokers. Therefore, HPV did not change the survival of patients with SCC of the oropharynx in this study, indicating that factors other than tobacco need to be studied in conjunction with it, and the level of tobacco consumption is significantly higher in the group of HPV-negative patients.

Human papillomavirus in tonsillar squamous cell carcinomas from Guatemala and Brazil

“…21 Similarly Soares et al also observed that in HPVnegative cases, the level of tobacco consumption was significantly higher. 19 Our results are compatible with previous reports, showing that in Brazil, the main causes of tonsillar carcinomas are alcohol and tobacco. 13,24 It has been suggested that NK tonsillar carcinoma originates from the reticular crypt epithelium, presenting higher susceptibility for HPV infection.…”

“…[13][14][15] The association of known risk factors, such as tobacco and alcohol, with oropharyngeal SCC has been found to be minimal in HPV-positive cases, whereas higher levels of consumption were reported in HPV-negative patients. 19,20 The aim of this study was to determine the presence of HPV in tonsillar SCC in patients from Guatemala and Brazil.…”