Prevalence of HPV in Mexican Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Carcinoma and Identification of Potential Prognostic Biomarkers

Abstract

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) show a variety of biological and clinical characteristics that could depend on the association with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Biological and clinical characterization is essential to stratify patients based on prognostic and predictive factors. Reports on HNSCC are scarce in Mexico. Herein, we analyzed 414 Mexican patients with HNSCC, including oropharynx (OPSCC), larynx (LASCC), and oral cavity (OCSCC), and identified HPV DNA and p16 expression. Global gene expression profiles were analyzed in 25 HPV+/p16+ vs. HPV−/p16− cases. We found 32.3% p16+ and 22.3% HPV+ samples, HPV 16, 18, 39, 52, and 31 being the most frequent genotypes. For OPSCC, LASCC and OCSCC, 39.2, 14.7, and 9.6% were HPV+/p16+, respectively. High expression of SLIRP, KLF10, AREG, and LIMA was associated with poor survival; in contrast, high expression of MYB and SYCP2 correlated with better survival. In HPV+ cases, high expression of SLC25A39 and GJB2 was associated with poor survival. Likewise, EGFR, IL-1, IL-6, JAK-STAT, WNT, NOTCH, and ESR1 signaling pathways were downregulated in HPV+ cases. CSF1R, MYC, and SRC genes were identified as key hubs and therapeutic targets. Our study offers information regarding the molecular and clinical characteristics of HNSCC in Mexican patients.

Low Prevalence of HPV Related Oropharyngeal Carcinogenesis in Northern Sardinia

“…Notably, if the HPV-related OPSCC rate is extremely variable, in the series where p16 IHC and nucleic acid detection are both performed, the false positive rate (FPR) of p16 IHC among HPV-negative cases is between 5 and 20% [ 11 , 18 , 35 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ], and is pretty constant for a given assay even in different populations (such as Dutch and Sardinians) (ISH, DNA detection without amplification, PCR) (some examples are shown in Table 2 ). When the current standard for the diagnosis of HPV-driven carcinogenesis is used (mRNA detection or sequential p16IHC and HPV-DNA PCR), the rate of HPV-negative OPSCC expressing p16 is notably always about 5.5% [ 11 , 44 , 45 , 46 ].…”

Increased expression of SYCP2 predicts poor prognosis in patients suffering from breast carcinoma

“…Therefore, the encoded protein of SYCP2 is involved in the cell cycle, specifically in the M phase (mitosis and cytokinesis) ( Espinosa et al, 2013 ). While SYCP2 is a testicular-specific human gene, elevated SYCP2 expression is likely to result in the genomic instability arising from high-risk HPV infection and the following oncogenic change ( Masterson et al, 2015 ) in HPV-related carcinomas, which consist of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) ( Li et al, 2021 ; Luo et al, 2021 ) as well as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) ( Tripathi et al, 2020 ; Mendez-Matias et al, 2021 ; Berglund et al, 2022 ). As indicated by existing studies, SYCP2 belonging to the mitosis pathway is likely to play a certain role in the oncogenesis of cervical carcinoma and can be used as a diagnostic marker and therapeutic target ( Espinosa et al, 2013 ); SYCP2 with alternative spliced events is likely to facilitate the CSCC progression ( Guo et al, 2015 ).…”

A Review on the Role of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptors in Human Papillomavirus-related Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…4 HPVs are divisible into low-and high-risk genotypes based on their likelihood of developing OSCC with two common highrisk oncological factors, i.e., HPV-16 and HPV-18. 5 Comparatively, the HPV-positive OSCC subgroup showed a higher five-year survival rate, indicating that HPV-positive OSCC possessed a better prognosis than VEGFR in controlling the angiogenic activity in the development of HPV-related OSCC.…”