Abstract:
Background: In India HNSCC comprises the largest group of malignancies with an incidence rate as
high as 30-40%.The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of high-risk human
papilloma virus (HR-HPV) as a risk factor in HNSCC patients of Saurashtra region of Gujarat.
Method: Newly diagnosed 200 HNSCC patients were selected for the study. Sociodemographic and
clinical data were obtained through questionnaire. Detection of HPV-DNA was done from cancer
tissues by PCR amplification method using GP5+/GP6+ primers, E6 and E7 primers for HPV 16 and
HPV 18 genotypes.
Result: The prevalence of HPV high-risk (HR) types was 2% in HNSCC cancer cases. HPV 16
genotype was identified while HPV 18 was absent in all the patients. The risk factor of HPV-HR
included younger age (<55 years) and early age at first sexual intercourse. The other risk factors like
tobacco and alcohol were absent in these patients. The site of cancer was found to be base of tongue
and tonsil.
Conclusion: The specific characteristics found in HPV positive HNSCC cases are in accord with
distinctive characteristics of HPV positive HNSCC found worldwide. We can conclude that HR-HPV
infection may be responsible for HPV-positive HNSCC. However, the prevalence of HPV among
HNSCC is negligible which indicates that HPV is not an influential risk factor for oral cancer in this
region.
Description:
We gratefully acknowledge the funding
agency, the University Grant Commission
(UGC) of the Government of India, for
providing financial support in the form of minor
research project. We thank Head and Neck
cancer patients who participated in the study for
their co-operation. We are grateful to Dr. Geet
Gupta and Dr. Khyati Babaria from department
of pathology and Dr. Nirav Modi from
department of Head and Neck Surgery at Smt V.R. Desai Cancer Research centre, Rajkot and
their hospital staff for providing the HNSCC
tumor samples.
