TP53 gene expression in HPV-positive oral tongue SCC and its correlation with nodal metastasis

In this study, we investigated the prevalence of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and TP53 expression in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the tongue and, subsequently, its significance in cervical lymph node metastases and tumor differentiation. Sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from 94 histologically confirmed tongue SCC cases were investigated in this study. Immunohistochemistry was used to study TP53 expression, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed for the detection of high risk HPV types (16 and 18). The frequency of HPV-16 and HPV-18 infection was 10.6% and 16%, respectively. Overexpression of TP53 was observed in 70.2% of patients. Young patients (aged below 45 years) comprised 20% of all patients. There was no significant association between TP53, HPV-16, or HPV 18 presence and higher stages of the tumor, tumor differentiation, or presence of nodal metastasis. Although an association between head and neck SCC and HPV infection is being recognized and reported, our data implicate that HPV infection or TP53 expression does not play a significant role in oral tongue SCC pathogenesis, differentiation, or metastasis, as seen in our patients.