Human papillomavirus infection and p16 expression in the immunocompetent patients with extragenital/extraungual Bowen's disease.
BACKGROUND
The role of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in the development of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has been established for anogenital lesions but still remains controversial for carcinomas in other sites. The aim of this study was to determine the α-HPV and β-HPV prevalence and their association with p16 expression, sun exposure, and clinicopathological findings in patients with Bowen's disease (BD).


METHODS
One hundred sixty nine skin biopsy specimens from 157 immunocompetent patients with extragenital/extraungual BD were examined for HPV status and p16 expression. The presence of koilocyte-like changes, solar elastosis and papillomatosis was recorded for each specimen.


RESULTS
BD was diagnosed more often in potentially sun-exposed sites with prevalence 73.6 % and a remarkable predilection for the head and neck region. High risk α-HPV or β-HPV were detected in 34.7 % of lesions and β-HPV infections dominated over α-HPV. Higher prevalence of koilocyte-like changes and papillomatosis was found in HPV-positive specimens but it was not statistically significant. The expression of p16 was detected in 79.8 % of lesions and displayed no correlation with the HPV status. HPV-positivity tended to be detected more often in sun-protected sites. Dual infections by α-HPV/β-HPV genera and mixed α-HPV infections were not detected, while 37.5 % of β-HPV positive specimens were infected by two or more β-HPV genotypes. HPV 9 was significantly associated with mixed β-HPV infections.


CONCLUSIONS
HPV may play an etiological role at least in some SCC in situ arising in extragenital sites. Sunprotected sites may be more dependent on HPV-mediated co-carcinogenesis than sun exposed areas. The presence of the p16-expression, papillomatosis or koilocyte-like change is not a reliable marker of HPV infection in SCC in situ.
['Švajdler|Marián|M|', 'Mezencev|Roman|R|', 'Kašpírková|Jana|J|', 'Kacerovská|Denisa|D|', 'Kazakov|Dmitry V|DV|', 'Ondič|Ondrej|O|', 'Michal|Michal|M|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D052685:Alphapapillomavirus D052686:Betapapillomavirus D001913:Bowen's Disease D060085:Coinfection D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 D005260:Female D005838:Genotype D006801:Humans D007121:Immunocompetence D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D010212:Papilloma D030361:Papillomavirus Infections D012878:Skin Neoplasms
Human papillomavirus p16 Bowen’s disease Skin cancer