A spectrum of bilateral squamous conjunctival tumors associated with human papillomavirus type 16

Three patients with bilateral tumors presenting as multiple keratinizing and verrucous lesions of the bulbar and tarsal conjunctiva were determined by DNA amplification and hybridization studies to harbor human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16). Results of biopsy in two patients showed infiltrating squamous cell carcinoma in one eye and dysplasia or carcinoma in situ in the fellow eye. In the third patient, focal, inflamed, hypertrophic, papillary lesions with pseudoglandular invaginations of the surface epithelium were found in the tarsal conjunctivae of both eyes. These are the first documented cases of bilateral conjunctival tumors associated with human papillomavirus.