Observational study reveals HPV16 infection associates with absent p53 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma, indicating distinct molecular cancer subsets.
Key Points
To examine the relationship between HPV16 infection, p53 and survivin expression, and clinicopathologic characteristics in oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Analyzed tumor specimens from 45 patients who underwent surgical resection for histologically confirmed oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Assessed p53 and survivin protein levels via immunohistochemistry and detected HPV16 genomic DNA using polymerase chain reaction.
Tracked patient disease-free intervals over a three-year follow-up period after primary surgery.
HPV16 DNA was detected in 24.4% (11/45) of patients; among HPV16-positive cases, 73% (8/11) had low survivin (<5%) and 64% (7/11) had high p53 (>10%).
p53 expression significantly correlated with survivin expression (P = 0.04), and HPV16 positivity was significantly associated with the absence of p53 immunoreactivity.
Disease-free survival intervals showed no statistically significant differences between patients with low versus high p53 (P = 0.220) or survivin expression (P = 0.580).