HHV-8 status in oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues in a group of Sri Lankan male patients

Abstract

Head and neck cancers (HNSCCs) are notable as a poignant public health menace and rank as the 8th most common cancer type according to a 2020 global estimation. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) accounts for 90–95% of oral malignancies in most countries. Moreover, oral cancer as well as Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV) prevalence demonstrates geographic and population specificity. Immunosuppression in oral cancer patients could trigger the multiplication and transmission of oncogenic γ-herpes viruses in oral cancer patients. The objective of this study was to find out the HHV-8 status in oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues in a group of Sri Lankan male patients. Incisional biopsies of cases and excisional biopsies of controls collected, transported, stored, and dispatched as frozen tissues at -800 C. Then, DNA extracted from frozen specimens using Gentra Puregene Tissue kit (Qiagen, Germany), solid tissue protocol according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Subsequently, real-time PCR was performed to detect HHV 8 in these OSCC cases and FEP controls. HHV- 8 was not detected in 22 OSCC cases and 29 FEP control samples. Thus, HHV-8 viral infections may not be a problem in oral cancer patients in Sri Lanka.

Betel quid chewing and alcohol consumption could be associated with detection of Epstein - Barr virus (EBV) DNA in oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues: Evidence from a subset of an unmatched case-control study

“…A 10-µl volume of each test sample was placed into the wells of a white 384-well plate in an Eppendorfep Motion 5075. Real-time PCR performed using a Quant 6-real-time machine as described previously 4 . The absence of PCR inhibitors in extracted DNA was con rmed by β-globin PCR assay with the primers PCO3 and PCO4 4 Table 2 demonstrates the risk habit pro le: betel chewing, smoking and alcohol consumption among cases and controls.…”

“…Real-time PCR performed using a Quant 6-real-time machine as described previously 4 . The absence of PCR inhibitors in extracted DNA was con rmed by β-globin PCR assay with the primers PCO3 and PCO4 4 Table 2 demonstrates the risk habit pro le: betel chewing, smoking and alcohol consumption among cases and controls. Accordingly, the vast majority (76.0%) of OSCC cases were daily betel chewers.…”

“…This virus is the main cause of nasopharyngeal cancer, which has a distinct biological entity. A causal association with EBV remains hitherto unresolved to this date, despite oral cancers being a constituent component of head and neck cancers (HNSCC) 3,4 . However, a meta-analysis revealed that the pooled OR with 95% CI between EBV infection and OSCC risk was 5.03 (1.80-14.01) with signi cant heterogeneity observed (I2 = 87%) 5 .…”

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV) does not imply the vast majority of Sri Lankan oral cancer patients

“…Present study was centered on a representive subsample of multicenter hospital based large case control study, conducted in nine Oral and Maxillo-Facial (OMF) Units located in six provinces of Sri Lanka as described previously [3,5]. The scienti c sample size calculation for the unmatched case-control study was based on Kelsey et al, 1996 as described previously 3 . Data and sample collection performed as described previously [3,5].…”

“…Viral infections due to Epstein Bar Virus (EBV), one of the oncogenic γ-herpes viruses among OSCC cases reported previously in local [3,9], regional [10,11] and global [12] oral cancer patients. Interestingly, the seropositivity for KSHV, the other oncogenic γ-herpes reported in 1999 with a ≥ 1:80, IgG antibody titre.…”