Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontology
Oral and Maxillofacial PathologyHuman papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinoma: Characterization of a distinct phenotype
Section snippets
Materials and methods
A total of 235 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsils and base of tongue were retrieved from the archival files of the department of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo. Hematoxylin and eosin–stained sections were reviewed and the tumors were classified according to their histologic features into conventional KSCC (Fig. 1) and NKCa. The latter is microscopically distinct and is characterized by relatively monomorphic, ovoid, and
Results
Of the 235 cases of carcinomas studied, 141 were located in the tonsils and 51 (36%) of these were NKCa. In the base of tongue, 94 carcinomas were identified and 30 (32%) were NKCa. The ages and sex distribution of these patients are shown in Table I.
High-risk HPV DNA was identified in 12 of the 20 cases tested. HPV type 16 was found in 10 cases while types c31/33 were detected in 2 cases (Fig. 3 and Table II). All of 10 NKCa were HPV positive while HPV DNA was identified in only 2 of the 10
Discussion
In this study we have demonstrated that about one third of squamous cell carcinomas of the tonsil and base of tongue areas of Waldyer's ring of the oropharynx show a distinct phenotype. Microscopically these tumors have a nonkeratinizing morphology with basal cell features (Fig. 2). The identification of high-risk HPV DNA, predominantly type 16, in all randomly selected cases of these tumors is strongly suggestive of their viral etiology. In addition to their characteristic morphology and
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2021, Gattuso’s Differential Diagnosis in Surgical PathologyIn situ hybridization for high risk HPV E6/E7 mRNA in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma
2021, American Journal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Medicine and SurgeryThe role of tumour morphology in assigning HPV status in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma
2020, Oral OncologyCitation Excerpt :However, in one study in an Irish cohort of 226 OPSCC patients, only 31% had HPV related disease based on dual HPV DNA PCR and p16 positivity [33], while in the present study, the rate was 50%. Non-keratinizing tumour morphology including in cervical lymph node metastases has previously been shown to correlate highly with p16 positivity, HPV positivity [13,14,34,35] and survival outcomes [35]. Prior 2012 CAP guidelines recognized that tumour morphology (keratinizing versus non-keratinizing) in combination with p16 status is a better predictor of HPV status than p16 IHC alone.
Virus-associated carcinomas of the head & neck: Update from the 2017 WHO classification
2019, Annals of Diagnostic Pathology