Detection of High Risk Human Papillomavirus DNA Sequences in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Iranian Fanconi Anemia Patients

Objective: fanconi anemia (fa) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterizedby congenital malformations, bone marrow failure, development of squamous cellcarcinoma (scc), and other cancers. human papillomavirus (hpv) in the oral cavityor oropharynx has been associated with an increased risk of laryngeal papillomatosis,invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (hnscc) and cervicaland other genital cancers. the prevalence of hpv dna in the oral cavity/oropharynxin fa patients and controls was compared.materials and methods: a risk factor questionnaire and oral exfoliated cells werecollected from fa patients. the study group consisted of 22 fa patients with hnscc(case subjects) and 24 patients with hnscc without fa (control subjects). hpvdna was detected using polymerase chain reaction (pcr) and specific primers thatcovered high risk types of hpv. moreover, special serological assays were used forthe detection of specific antibodies against hpv in patient’s sera.results: hpv dna was detected in 82% of the scc specimens from the case subjectswhich was statistically higher (p< 0.05) than the scc specimens from the controlsubjects (62.5%). in all cases, the presence of hpv antibodies in patient’s serahas been shown. among the case subject specimens, 14 cases, and in the controlsubjects, 11 cases were infected by high risk hpv (hr-hpv).conclusion: these data confirm that hpv infection, especially with high risk types(16,18), could be one of several risk factors for hnscc particularly in fa patients