LOW DETECTION RATE OF HPV IN ORAL AND LARYNGEAL CARCINOMAS

The presence of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) in 38 oral and 16 laryng eal lesions (verrucous hyperplasia, carcinoma in situ and carcinomas) was investigated using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. All biopsies were fresh frozen and a set of consensus and type-specifi c primers was used for PCR detection and HPV typing. In oral biopsies a low proportion of HPV-positive cases was found. despite the sensitiv e techniques. Only one case out of 38, a carcinoma in situ was positiv e (2.6%). Tt is thought that this finding reflects a minimal presence of HPV in the oral lesions, but a transient role of virus in the induc tion of carcinomas cannot be ruled out. Differences in relation to oth er studies may be geographical and/or methodological. In laryngeal car cinomas (and dysplasias), 3 out of 16 cases were HPV positive. This fr equency (19%) concurs with most other studies.