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HPV-16 viral load in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma using digital PCR |
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| Authors: | Annika Antonsson Lani Knight Benedict J. Panizza Sandro V. Porceddu Sarah Emmett David C. Whiteman |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Population Health, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia;2. Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Australia;3. Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Australia |
| Abstract: | Conclusions: We did not identify any strong associations between HPV-16 viral load and any of the clinical or lifestyle factors. Objective: The epidemiology of oropharyngeal SCC is changing, with an increasing proportion of HPV-positive cases seen in the last decade. It is known that a high viral load is linked to the development of cervical cancer, the relation between viral load and oropharyngeal SCC is less clear. We sought to determine HPV-16 viral load in HPV-positive oropharyngeal SCCs using highly sensitive digital PCR and to identify clinical and lifestyle factors associated with viral load. Subjects and methods: We analysed 45 HPV-16 positive oropharyngeal SCCs diagnosed between 2013 and 2015. All patients completed a lifestyle questionnaire and clinical data were extracted from medical charts. Viral load was determined using digital PCR assays for HPV-L1 and RNAseP. Results: We found large variations in HPV-16 viral load from 1 to 930 copies per cell (median 34 copies per cell). |
| Keywords: | Human papilloma virus HPV-16 viral load oropharyngeal SCC lifestyle factors |