[The presence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in microinvasive in situ spinocellular carcinoma of the oral cavity. Preliminary report].

BACKGROUND

The authors examined 15 cases of in situ and early oral SCC to detect the presence of HPV genoma.

METHODS

They proceeded to in situ hybridization on paraffined specimens utilizing DNA-biotinylated fragments in commercial kit (Vyra Type in situ, Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD, USA).

RESULTS

HPV-DNA was detected in 9 cases: 6/11, 16/18, 31/33/35 serotypes were detected. The distribution of viral serotypes by sites showed a prevalence of 16/18 serotype in tongue and floor of the mouth carcinoma, a prevalence of 6/11 serotype in gingiva, hard palate and buccal mucosa carcinoma, and 31/33/35 in commissura.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest an important role of HPV in oral carcinogenesis, but further investigations are necessary to confirm these data on larger groups of patients to obtain a higher significance of the results.