Human papillomavirus infection in “young” versus “old” patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Abstract

Background. Human papillomavirus (HPV) represents a potential risk factor for squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (SCCHN). We evaluated the prevalence of HPV DNA in patients with SCCHN diagnosed at the University of Michigan from 1994-1996. Methods. Patients were stratified by age at diagnosis as "young" (<50 years; median, 39) or "old" (>50 years; median, 66). Fourteen "young" and 14 "old" were matched for tumor site, and 4 additional "old" patients were included. Specimens were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction for HPV DNA using 2 sets of consensus primers. HPV sequences were confirmed by Southern blot hybridization and typed with type-specific probes.Results. Overall, 15 of 32 (46.9%) samples contained HPV sequences. HPV 16 was detected in 9 of 15 (60%), HPV-18 in 1 of 15 (6.6%), and 5 of 15 (33.3%) remained untyped by multiple methods. When stratified, 7 of 14 (50%) "young" were HPVpositive compared with 8 of 18 (44.4%) "old" (p = .76). Survival in patients with HPV-positive SCCHN was significantly longer than that for HPV-negative patients.Conclusions. The incidence of HPV in "young" versus "old" is not significantly different, suggesting similar roles for both groups. Patients with HPV-positive tumors may have a survival advantage relative to patients with HPV-negative tumors.

Detection of HPV in mouth floor squamous cell carcinoma and its correlation with clinicopathologic variables, risk factors and survival

“…There was no statistically significant difference between HPV presence and the clinicopathologic variables analyzed. This finding is in line with other studies, where no correlation between HPV positivity and gender was found (5,19,(41)(42)(43).…”

Prevalence and trends of human papillomavirus in oropharyngeal cancer in a predominantly north Indian population

“…Similar to the study by Ringstrom et al, 36 our patients who were HPV positive were 8 years younger than the patients who were HPV negative. Sisk et al 37 reported the risk for HPV positivity to be 1.25 greater among the younger population. In light of the increasing incidence of tonsillar cancers in young adults, HPV might represent an important etiologic factor in these patients.…”

Human papillomavirus (HPV) in head and neck cancer

“…Interestingly, the low-risk HPV types 6 and 11 can also be identified in some oral carcinomas, similar to laryngeal carcinomas (Yamaguchi et al, 1991;Fife et al, 1996;Chang et al, 2002). A recent study by Sisk et al (2000) showed that the incidence of HPV in younger patients is not significantly different from older patients, suggesting a similar role for HPV in all age groups. …”