Association of Human Papilloma Virus in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: An Alarming Need for Human Papillomavirus 16 Screening in Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND: The percentage of cancers of the tongue and palatine tonsils has continued to increase by 2%–4% among younger men. This increased prevalence of a subsection of oropharyngeal carcinoma can be associated with human papillomavirus (HPV). Among the head-and-neck cancers, a strong association with HPV infection is evident with oropharyngeal cancers, particularly tonsillar and basal tongue cancers. OBJECTIVES: Oral carcinoma, with an overall incidence of 16.1 adults per 100,000, is one of the leading malignancies worldwide, presenting a noticeable geographic variation in its distribution. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) being the most common of all oral malignancies, the objective of the study is to detect the HPV antigen p16 over-expression in patients with oral SCC using immunohistochemistry (IHC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Oral SCC (OSCC) diagnosed formalin-fixed-paraffin embedded blocks were processed for IHC. RESULTS: Out of 50 cases, 3 were deferred due to insufficient tumor sample and 2/47 cases were p16 positive and the site was the lateral border of the tongue. CONCLUSION: The HPV antigen overexpression in patients with OSCC was investigated to detect the incidence of HPV in SCC of oral cavity. P16 was used as a marker for the detection of OSCC using IHC in HPV-induced OSCC. Positives were detected thus concluding the significance of studying HPV expression during diagnosis.