p53 gene mutations and HPV infection in primary head and neck squamous cell carcinomas do not correlate with overall survival: a long term follow‐up study

Abstract

We analyzed specimens of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) from 110 patients for p53 gene mutations, and 92 of them for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, in order to evaluate the prognostic significance of these factors by comparison with clinical follow-up data. Mutations within the exons 5 to 8 of the p53 gene were found in 48 tumors (44%). Sequencing revealed in most cases mis-sense mutations (16/21). Frequency of p53 gene mutations was not related to the tumor stage or the presence of lymph node metastases. Of the 46 tumors that were analyzed by immunohistochemistry, 26 stained positively (56%). The number of positively stained nuclei increased slightly with decreasing differentiation of the tumors, whereas no correlation was found between tumor stage and immunoreactivity. An infection with the high-risk HPV types 16 and 18 could be detected in 39/92 tumor specimens (42%). Follow-up data were obtained from 99 patients within a range of 2 to 112 months. No dependence of overall survival on the presence of p53 gene mutations or HPV infection could be observed. The absence of statistically significant correlations between p53 gene mutation and progressive disease, however, does not deny its putative relevance in early phases of tumor development.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) detection in lip squamous cell carcinoma: correlation with clinical aspects and risk factors

“…The largest studies evaluating HPV DNA detection of in lip SCC was a multicenter study held in Sweden, Norway and Finland, which included 57 cases and found 4% DNA HPV positive, in a population greatly different from of latin american 35 . Detection rate of HPV DNA similar to present work was found by Riethdorf 15 that evaluated 18 cases of lip SCC by PCR using frozen tissues and found 50% of positivity.…”

“…This lack of association between HPV infections and these variables was also observed in other studies 15,36 . We believe that the lip can be only a reservoir for the human papillomavirus.…”

“…described in 1983 14 a possible link between HPV and oral cancer due to the observation of cytopathic alterations in oral lesions similar to those typically induced by HPV previously found in cervix cancer. Regarding the significance of HPV DNA presence in prognosis of patients with oral SCC, literature data are controversial [15][16][17][18] . However, its has been suggested differences between patients infected and no infected with HPV in relation to sex, age, tumor regions, histological grade, regional metastasis, rate of recurrence and survival 18 .…”

Association between p53 and Human Papillomavirus in Head and Neck Cancer Survival

“…p53 and HPV-HR have been examined in association with HNC prognosis with conflicting results observed (19). Overexpression of p53 was related to worse prognosis in some investigations (3,5,20) but not in others (4,17), whereas HPV-HR has been associated with better prognosis (7,21). Studies of cervical cancer have not been able to address the p53/HPV relationship with survival because HPV-HR is a necessary cause of these tumors and thus cannot serve as a model for predicting outcomes.…”

“…In addition, HNC patients show low survival (50%) and high recurrence rates (25%; refs. 7,12,[16][17][18]. p53 and HPV-HR have been examined in association with HNC prognosis with conflicting results observed (19).…”