Impact of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Status on Well Established Risk Profile of Oral Cancer in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Background: There is a calamitous need to explore the impact of HPV on well-established risk profile of oral cancer which is poorly understood. Aim: Prioritizing this situation, we aimed to investigate the impact of HPV on well-established risk profile of oral cancer in Sri Lanka, using a representative sub sample consisted of 29 oral squamous cell carcinoma cases(OSCC) and 25 fibro epithelial polyps (FEP), from a large case control study conducted in Sri Lanka. Methodology: Incisional biopsies of cases and excisional biopsies of controls were collected, transported, stored at =80 0 C and dispatched as frozen tissues. DNA was extracted from frozen specimens, using the Gentra Puregene Tissue kit (Qiagen, Germany), solid tissue protocol according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Nested PCR was performed to detect HPV and HPV geno types were discovered by sequencing. Results: HPV was detected in 4/54 (7.4 %) of overall samples. Upon sequencing, high risk HPV α 9 and HPV 31 were detected in controls and not in the HPV positive OSCC case. between cases and controls*. Moreover, statistically significant difference was obtained in mean ages of cases and controls. (p= 0.0001)*. Cases were older than controls. Conclusion: There was no impact of HPV on established risk profile of oral cancer in Sri Lanka. This high light the emerging importance of investigating the HPV status of young OSCC cases without known aetiology.