Testing of human papillomavirus in lung cancer and non-tumor lung tissue

Risk factors for lung cancer, such as cigarette smoking, environmental pollution, asbestos, and genetic determinants, are well-known, whereas involvement of the human papillomavirus (HPV) is still unclear.

We examined a series of 100 lung cancer patients from Italy and the UK for the presence of HPV DNA in both lung tumor specimens and adjacent non-tumoral specimens from the same patients. Thirty-five of the most clinically relevant HPV types were assayed using PCR amplification of the highly conserved L1 region of the viral genome followed by hybridization with specific probes.

No HPV was detected in tumor specimens nor in normal lung tissue of any patient.

These data indicate that, in this Western series, HPV is not associated with the risk of lung cancer. Our findings will help refine estimates of lung cancer risk in patients affected by a common viral infection involved in other types of human cancer.