Prevalence of DNA of the different types of oncogenic viruses in the squamous cell carcinoma and normal oral mucosa

Relevance. The incidence and mortality of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) remains a significant level in Russia. In this regard, the search for informative prognostic and predictive markers is very important.

Purpose. To determine the prevalence of DNA of oncogenic viruses in the normal mucosa and OCSCC.

Materials and methods. A prospective study was included 50 healthy volunteers and 116 patients with verified OCSCC. All patients were detected for HSV type I, type II DNA, CMV, EBV, HPV-6.11 types, HPV-16 and HPV-18 types by real-time PCR.

Results. HPV-18 DNA significantly rarer was detected in patients OCSCC vs normal mucosa (HPV-18 was detected 2.8 times less often (p <0.0001)). In OCSCC and normal oral mucosa more frequent were identified DNA HPV-18: as individually – 19 (18.0%) in normal mucosa vs 6 (5.2%) in OCSCC, and in combination with the EBV: 7 (14.0%) (control group) vs 5 (4.3%) (main group), (p = 0,03). Also, significant differences were obtained by analyzing the combination of HPV-18 with CMV, which was detected only in normal mucosa – 2 (4.0%) (p = 0.03).

Conclusion. This analysis suggests that the presence of HPV type 18 DNA in OCSCC can be considered as a favorable prognostic factor. 

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