• 11/16/2006
  • London, UK
  • C C R Ragin et al.
  • British Journal of Cancer (2006) 95, 1432-1438.

Two distinct etiologies of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have been proposed, DNA damage owing to tobacco and alcohol exposure and human papillomavirus (HPV) oncogene-mediated transformation.

Common genetic alterations in HNSCC include TP53 mutations, 11q13 amplification (amp) and CDKN2A/p16 mutations or promoter methlyation. However, in HPV+ HNSCC it is frequent to observe wild-type TP53 and expression of p16. The relationship of this unusual pattern with 11q13 amp has not been tested.

In a retrospective study on 125 HNSCC patients, only 17% (five out of 30) of HPV+ vs 44% (39 out of 89) of HPV – tumours expressed 11q13 amp (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=0.2, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.1-0.6). A subpopulation of tumours (n=69) were classified according to the three molecular markers, TP53, p16 and 11q13 amp. In addition to wild-type TP53, and p16 expression, HPV+ tumours were more likely not to be amplified at 11q13 (OR=6.5, 95% CI=1.8-23.9). As HPV+ HNSCC lack the genetic alterations which are common in other tumours, we hypothesise that HPV infection may represent an early event in the HNSCC carcinogenic process, thus suggesting a distinct molecular pathway.

Authors:
C C R Ragin1,2,3, E Taioli2,3, J L Weissfeld2,3, J S White1,2,3, K M Rossie4, F Modugno2,3 and S M Gollin1,3

Authors’ affiliations:
1Department of Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 130 DeSoto Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA

2Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA

3The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA

4Department of Oral Medicine and Pathology, School of Dental Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA