TYPE-73 HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS IN ESOPHAGEAL SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA - A NOVEL ASSOCIATION

BACKGROUND. Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) commonly cause proliferative lesions of squamous epithelia, and infection with certain HPV types c arries a high risk of malignant transformation, especially in the uter ine cervix but also at other sites, including the esophagus. We used m olecular techniques to detect and type HPV in an in situ squamous cell carcinoma in the esophagus of a 39-year-old woman. METHODS. DNA was e xtracted from paraffin sections of the esophageal lesion and of the ut erine cervix (which was removed several years earlier), and analyzed f or HPV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Primers complementary to hi ghly conserved regions of the open reading frame of most genital HPVs were used to amplify a similar to 150 base pair product that contained both conserved and divergent regions. The PCR products were hybridize d with probes specific for HPV-G, HPV-11, HPV-16, and HPV-18, and with a consensus probe. A conspicuous band in the esophageal sample failed to hybridize with any of the probes. The amplimer was subcloned and s equenced. The sequence was compared with other known HPVs. RESULTS. Th e intraepithelial neoplasia in the patient's cervical cone biopsy cont ained HPV-16. The esophageal lesion contained HPV that did not hybridi ze with probes for types 6, 11, 16, or 18, but exhibited 98.3% homolog y with HPV-73. CONCLUSIONS. Squamous cell carcinoma in situ of the eso phagus may be associated with infection by HPV-73. (C) 1996 American C ancer Society.