Clinical Study On HPV Infection In Carcinoma Tissues And Pharynx Of Breast Cancer Patients

Objective:The aim of this study is to explore the correlation between breast cancer and human papillomavirus(HPV), to see if the infection of HPV in pharynx is one of the sources of that in breast, to discover an ideal marker for HPV in breast tissues and consequently to provide theoretical supports for additional primary prevention as well as a brand new idea of diagnosis and therapy in breast cancer.Methods:Ninety-four specimens were collected from operation inpatients in Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from Jan.25th to Dec.27th,2015, among which 67 pharyngeal specimens were collected at the same time. The types of specimens are exfoliated cells from carcinoma or benign tissues of breasts or pharynx and nipple discharge from mammary ducts. We detected 13 kinds of high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) in the specimens via hybrid capture 2 technique (HC2). Furthermore, we also examined P16 and Ki-67 in breast tissues of those who were proved to be HR-HPV positive previously in either their breasts or pharyngeal specimens. SPSS 19.0 statistical software was used for data analysis.Results:1. Seventy-three malignant specimens for HC2 test were collected and HPV was not detected in any specimens (0/73).2. Twelve benign specimens were involved in HC2 test, while one case with duct ectasia was proved to be HR-HPV positive(1/12,8.3%).3. Sixty-seven pharyngeal specimens were also detected for HR-HPV at the same time and 7 were positive(7/67,10.4%). Breast and pharyngeal tissues didn’t get infected simultaneously. According to the result of chi-square test, there is no evidence to prove the correlation between breast and pharyngeal infection of HPV(P >0.05). Furthermore, we found that the incidence of HPV infection in pharynx among the women aged 40 or less was significantly higher than that among the women aged more than 40(P<0.05).4. None of HR-HPV positive result was obtained in 9 specimens of nipple discharge. 5. Eight cases whose HPV results were positive were involved in immunohistochemical test for P16 and Ki-67 in their breast tissues. Immunopositive P16 staining of nucleus was seen in 6 pharyngeal HPV-positive cases, while immunopositive P16 staining of cytoplasm seen in 2. Overexpression of P16 in both nucleus and cytoplasm was observed in the only one case which was HPV positive in breast. Ki-67 was expressed in varying degrees among the 8 cases.Conclusions:1. HC2 test applied to breast tissues is still not very perfect because of its unsatisfying sensitivity.2. The absence of HPV in nipple discharge may imply the importance of further research on large sample for the clinical value of discharge-HPV detection.3. HPV infection was found in ductal ectasia, which indicated the direct pathway from ductal opening to breast tissues seemed to be more acceptable.4. HPV didn’t exist in both breast tissues and pharynx simultaneously. The result supported the hypothesis that HPV cannot infect multiple parts of human body at the same time.4. P16 was strongly expressed in the HPV-positive breast tissue and it may have the potential to become a sensitive biological marker for HPV.