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Updated: Jun 20, 2026
RNAscope for In situ Detection of Transcriptionally Active Human Papillomavirus in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: March 11, 2014
HPV-positive/p16-positive/EBV-negative nasopharyngeal carcinoma in white North Americans
Jessica H Maxwell1, Bhavna Kumar, Felix Y Feng
1University of Michigan Medical School, The University of Michigan Health System and Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Background:
Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been detected in keratinizing nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPCs); however, the relationship between HPV and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) among whites with nonkeratinizing NPCs remains unclear. The HPV, p16, and EBV status was examined in current University of Michigan patients with NPC.
Methods:
From 2003 to 2007, 89 patients, 84 with oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) and 5 with NPC, were enrolled in an organ-sparing trial. Biopsy tissues from all 89 patients were evaluated for HPV and p16 expression. A separate HPV analysis of the 84 OPC patients is in progress. Among the patients with NPC, tumor tissue was also analyzed for EBV-encoded RNA (EBER).
Results:
Five of 89 patients (5.6%) had NPC, all with nonkeratinizing histology. The 4 white patients with NPC were HPV(+) (subtype-16, subtype-18 [2 patients], and subtype-59)/p16(+)/EBER(-). One Asian patient with NPC had an HPV(-)/p16(-)/EBER(+) NPC tumor that developed distant metastases.
Conclusion:
We postulate that HPV may be the etiologic factor in some EBV-negative, nonkeratinizing NPCs among whites.
