Detection of human papillomavirus DNA in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded squamous papillomas of the oral cavity

2018

Background Squamous papillomas are exophytic proliferations of surface oral epithelium. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is widely accepted as the etiology of squamous papillomas however the virus cannot be detected in a significant percentage of lesions. Material and methods Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we tested 35 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) squamous papillomas for the presence of HPV DNA. Results Six papillomas (17%) tested positive for HPV DNA; four contained HPV-6 and two contained HPV-11. Given that β-globin DNA was only identified in half of the samples, DNA degradation appears to have significantly impacted the results. Conclusions The results likely repre…