Human Papilloma Virus Infection in Cervical and Oral Cancers in Taiwan Compared

The correlation of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection with cervical and oral cancer was investigated in this study. The specimens include 27 biopsies with cervical cancer, and 29 cases of cervical scrape from normal adult, 27 paraffin-embedded biopsies of oral cancer tissue and 16 cases of normal oral tissue. HPV for the specimens were determined by PCR-based method. Among 27 biopsies with cervical cancer, 18 cases were identified as HPV. In these 18 HPV positive specimen, 9 (50%) were identified as HPV type 16, 2 (11.1%) as HPV type 18, 1 (5.5%) as mix infection of HPV types16 and 18, 1 (5.5%) as HPV type 35, 1 (5.5%) as HPV-45, and 4 (22.2%) as unidentified type of HPV. In 29 cervical specimens of control group, no viral infection was detected. The types of HPV identified from the cervical cancer tissue seem to correlate with the severity of cervical diseases. Among oral specimens, no HPV was found. These results suggested that HPV is the viral factor associated with cervical cancer, however, the relationship between HPV and oral cancer may be low in Taiwan area. It suggests that HPV infection is not a predominant etiology of oral cancer in Taiwan.