Human Papillomaviruses Infection in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Oral Pre-cancer Lesions in Taiwan

Human papilloma viruses (HPV) infection is a significant risk factor for uterine cervical carcinoma. Many previous studies have also demonstrated the presence of HPVs in oral epithelia tissue. However, the role of HPV infection in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is still controversy. The present study is to determine the frequency and type of HPV in OSCCs and oral precancer lesions. Methods: DNA samples were collected from 51 OSCCs, 46 oral precancer lesions and 90 normal control specimens by cytobrushings. Nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and gene-chip are used to identify multiple HPV types in our samples. Results: The positive rates of overall HPV types (14/46, P=0.0216, OR=2.844, CI=1.186-6.816) and of low-risk types (9/46, P=0.0096, OR=5.529, CI=1.597-19.14) are significantly higher in oral precancer lesions than in control samples. The prevalence of high-risk type (11/51, P=0.0420, OR=2.819, CI=1.051-7.558) is significantly higher in OSCCs than in control but of overall types (13/51, P=0.1066, OR=2.244, CI=0.9266-5.337) is not to reach the statistical significance.Conclusion: The high-risk HPV may play a role in OSCCs progression and the low-risk ones may associate with the oral precancer lesions.