EBV, HSV, CMV and HPV in laryngeal and oropharyngeal carcinoma in Polish patients.

: The role of viruses in the etiology of oral cancer has been proposed in many studies. The aim of the present study was to analyze the prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus, Human Herpes virus type 1, Cytomegalovirus and Human Papilloma virus among patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma in a Polish population. We investigated fresh-frozen tumor tissue fragments obtained from 80 patients with OSCC using the polymerase chain reaction assay. HPV was detected in 32.5% (22.5% were HPV 16), more often in laryngeal (36%) than in oropharyngeal carcinoma (26.6%). EBV was identified in 57.5%, HHV-1 in 7.5%, and CMV in 10% of patients. Co-infection with one or more viruses was detected in 30% of cases and most frequently it was co-infection with EBV and HPV (15%). Further studies are necessary to determine the potential role of EBV and the possible importance of HHV-1 as an infection co-factor in oropharyngeal cancer.