Prevalence of human papillomavirus in archival head and neck cancer in the eastern Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, China

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in archival head and neck cancer (HNC) collected from the Tong-Liao area, which is located in east Inner Mongolia, China. Methods: The presence of HPV in 54 HNCs and 25 benign biopsies was detected and the sequence variation of the E6 gene in HPV-positive samples was analyzed to determine their lineage/sublineage classification. Results: HPV was detected in only 4 out of 54 HNCs and no benign biopsies were found to be HPV-positive. After further p16INK4a immunostaining, only 3 cases of HNC were positive for both HPV and p16INK4a. Phylogenetic analysis of the isolated E6 gene shows that the HPV 16, HPV 31, and HPV 58 isolated in this study belong to lineage A. Conclusions: The prevalence of HPV in HNC from this area is very low. The lineage/sublineage classification of the 3 HPV types in HNC in this area is consistent with the previous reported data of HPV lineage distribution in cervical cancer within China.