Relationship of human papillomavirus to ploidy in squamous cell carcinomasof the head and neck

To establish the relationship between the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) gene sequences and the development of genetic abnormalities, 31 squam ous cell carcinomas of the head and neck were studied for the presence of H PV types 6b and 16 and the DNA content by flow cytometry. Eighteen (58%) ca ses were aneuploid. HPV DNA was present in seven (22.5%) tumors. Five of th em were positive for the HPV type 6b and two for the HPV type 16. Aneuploid y was correlated with poorly differentiated tumors. No correlation was foun d between the presence of HPV, DNA content, or tumor differentiation. Conse quently the presence of HPV gene sequences does not seem to be related to a higher incidence of genetic abnormalities in squamous cell carcinomas of t he head and neck.