Human Papillomavirus Infection And P16 Expression In Oral Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Research Of Clinical Significance

Objective:To detect the infection rate of human papillomavirus(HPV)and the overexpression rate of p16 in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma(OTSCC),and thus analyze their relationship with tumor biological characteristics and therapy effect,with the expectation to explore the effective approach for treatment of OTSCC.Materials and Methods:The objects of study were 84 specimens collected from patients with firstly-diagnosed OTSCC in Shenzhen People’s Hospital from March 2014 to March 2018.Further detection of relevant genotypes and infection status of HPV in OTSCC were realized by Luminex liquid chip technology.Immunohistochemistry(IHC)was used to detect the expression of p16 in paraffin-embedded specimens fixed by formalin.Statistical analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the expression of HPV and p16 in tongue squamous cell carcinoma and clinical features and prognosis.Results:In the enrolled subjects,overexpression of p16 was found in 28 cases(33.3%)and HPV positive in 13 cases(15.5%).All positive patients were identified with subtypes of high-risk HPV infection,and HPV16 was the main type.The correlation between HPV and p16 expression in OTSCC suggested no correlation between them(r=-0.093,P=0.400).The positive expression of p16 in OTSCC was correlated with the age of patients(χ~2=4.082,P=0.043).There was no significant difference in 5-year OS,DFS and PFS when compared positive HPV or p16 expression with those with negative HPV or p16 expression(P>0.05).Meanwhile,there was no significant difference in 5-year OS,DFS and PFS between positive and negative HPV patients,whether surgery alone or surgery combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy(P>0.05);and no statistical difference was found in OS,DFS and PFS between positive and negative p16 patients(P>0.05).Multivariate survival analysis of COX proportional risk regression model suggested that lymph node metastasis was an independent factor affecting.It indicated that the risk of death and recurrence in patients with lymph node metastasis was 2.095 times and 1.533 times higher that of patients without metastasis,respectively.However,the positive expression of HPV and p16 is not an independent factor of poor prognosis in patients with OTSCC.Conclusion:There is a negative correlation between HPV infection status and p16 expression in OTSCC tissues.HPV and p16 expression exhibit no significant correlation with the prognosis of OTSCC,nor the prognosis of surgery alone or surgery combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy.The proposed two indexes in our study can not be regarded as markers to predict patient prognosis,and therapeutic modalities can not be determined according to HPV infection status and p16 expression simply.