A Preliminary Clinicopathologic Study to Evaluate the Association of Human Papilloma Virus in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Its Influence on Prognostic Significance

Background: In non-tobacco and non-alcohol users with oral cancer, oncogene viruses may play a significant role. Objective: To find the association of human papilloma virus (HPV) in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) and to find the influence of presence of HPV on survival in OSCC patients. Methods: This observational study comprised of 51 patients with OSCC, who were non tobacco and non-alcohol users, whose tumor tissues were subjected to immunohistochemistry to evaluate p16 expression. Overexpression of p16 was compared with various clinical and histological parameters using Chi square tests, Fisher’s test, and Wilcoxon rank sum test with P value less than 0.05 being considered significant. Results: Out of the 51 patients, 14 of them overexpressed p16 antigen. Only one p16 overexpressed patient had sharp tooth. When disease free survival was calculated it was slightly more in p16 overexpression patients than negative p16 patient s (21.4 ± 12.89 months vs 19.28 ± 7.19 months). Overall survival also followed a similar pattern (24.27 vs 21.28 months). Conclusion: HPV may be associated in the causation of OSCC. HPV positive tumors have marginal increase in survival rates that may give a prognostic advantage over HPV negative tumors.