Assessment of human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus in lung adenocarcinoma

The association of human papillomavirus (HPV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection with non-small cell lung cancer is controversial. HPV and EBV prevalence in a uniform population of lung adenocarcinoma was investigated, hypothesizing that there would be differences seen between smokers and non-smokers and between sexes. Patients involved in this study were selected from a single institution database of lung cancer. In total 497 patients with adenocarcinoma were identified and 110 patients had sufficient tissue for analysis with an in situ hybridization method that probed for high-risk and low-risk HPV and EBV. There were 65 males and 45 females, 78 patients with stage I-IIIA disease and 32 patients with stage IIIB-IV disease. There were similar number of smokers and non-smokers. Across all stages HPV and EBV staining was absent from all tissues examined. It is unlikely that HPV or EBV is an important etiological agent in adenocarcinoma of the lung, even among the never-smokers.