Human papillomavirus is a favourable prognostic factor in tonsillar cancer and its oncogenic role is supported by the expression of E6 and E7

Lindquist, David; Romanitan, Mircea; Hammarstedt, Lalle; Näsman, Anders; Dahlstrand, Hanna; Lindholm, Johan; Onelöv, Liselotte; Ramqvist, Torbjörn; Ye, Weimin; Munck-Wikland, Eva; Dalianis, Tina

doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2007.08.005

« Previous Next »Molecular Oncology
Volume 1, Issue 3 , Pages 350-355, December 2007

Human papillomavirus is a favourable prognostic factor in tonsillar cancer and its oncogenic role is supported by the expression of E6 and E7

David Lindquist
- Department of Oncology–Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Cancer Center Karolinska, R8:01, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
- These authors contributed equally to the work.
Mircea Romanitan
- Department of Oncology–Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Cancer Center Karolinska, R8:01, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
- These authors contributed equally to the work.
Lalle Hammarstedt
- Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
Anders Näsman
- Department of Oncology–Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Cancer Center Karolinska, R8:01, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
Hanna Dahlstrand
- Department of Oncology–Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Cancer Center Karolinska, R8:01, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
Johan Lindholm
- Department of Oncology–Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Cancer Center Karolinska, R8:01, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
Liselotte Onelöv
- Department of Oncology–Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Cancer Center Karolinska, R8:01, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
Torbjörn Ramqvist
- Department of Oncology–Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Cancer Center Karolinska, R8:01, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
Weimin Ye
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Eva Munck-Wikland
- Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
Tina Dalianis
- Department of Oncology–Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Cancer Center Karolinska, R8:01, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +46 8 517 765 83; fax: +46 8 517 766 30.

Received 16 July 2007; received in revised form 24 August 2007; accepted 28 August 2007. published online 18 September 2007.

Abstract

From 1970 to 2002 in the Stockholm area, we revealed a parallel three-fold increase in the incidence of tonsillar cancer and the proportion of human papillomavirus (HPV) positive tonsillar cancer cases, indicating a possible role of HPV infection in this disease. We have now examined whether HPV and viral load in pre-treatment tonsillar cancer biopsies correlates to disease prognosis, and whether the presence of HPV-16 E6 and E7 mRNA could be ascertained. The presence of HPV-16, but not viral load, in tonsillar cancer was shown to be a favourable prognostic factor for clinical outcome. Moreover, E6 and/or E7 were expressed in almost all assessable HPV-16 positive cases, supporting an oncogenic role of HPV-16 in tonsillar cancer.

Keywords: Human papillomavirus, Tonsillar carcinoma, Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Viral load, E6 mRNA, E7 mRNA