Affiliation:
1. Department of Surgical Oncology, IMS and SUM Hospital Siksha ’O’ Anusandhan (Deemed to be University) Kalinga Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
2. Department of Medical Research, IMS and SUM Hospital Siksha ’O’ Anusandhan (Deemed to be University) Kalinga Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Abstract
Abstract
Context:
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the third most prevalent solid cancer in India with 45% incidence, is associated with 20%–50% of cases having human papillomavirus (HPV) infection; however, the current role of HPV in managing OSCC remains unclear, particularly in high-incidence areas such as Eastern India.
Aim:
The study aims to determine the prevalence of HPV in OSCC patients and evaluate its role as an independent risk factor in the progression of OSCC.
Settings and Design:
This cross-sectional study, conducted in an Eastern Indian tertiary care hospital, involved 140 identified and treated OSCC patients.
Materials and Methods:
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to determine HPV immunoreactivity using the marker p16. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 27.0 with a significance level of P < 0.05.
Results:
Among 140 patients, 11 showed strong P16 positivity (>70%) for HPV, resulting in a prevalence rate of 7.86%. However, no statistically significant association of HPV (p16 positivity) with any groups was found. Interestingly, all P16-positive patients in our study had a history of tobacco use (9.5%), suggesting that HPV may not be considered an independent factor for oral cancer.
Conclusion:
In our cases, p16 positivity is seen in 7.85% of cases. This finding suggests that further sub-analysis concerning p16 as a prognostic marker and its therapeutic implication is further required in oral cancer. Correlation with PCR is also required to substantiate TNM staging of p16 by the IHC method.