p16 overexpression and Rb loss correlate with high‐risk HPV infection in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Aims p16 is a sensitive surrogate marker for transcriptionally active high‐risk human papillomavirus (HR‐HPV) infection in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), but it is not sufficient in all clinical settings. Methods and results We examined the p16 and Rb expression status in 177 OPSCC cases by immunohistochemistry and the presence of transcriptionally active HR‐HPV infection by mRNA in‐situ hybridisation. The 177 cases were divided into p16+/HPV+ (n = 105, 59.3%), p16+/HPV− (n = 8, 4.5%) and p16−/HPV− (n = 64, 36.2%) groups. The p16+/HPV− and p16−/HPV− groups had a trend towards worse overall survival (OS) or significantly worse OS than the p16+/HPV+ group (n = 105) (P = 0.0610, P = 0.0004, respectively). We divided the Rb status into preserved expression (> 90%, n = 68), partial loss (PL) (10–90%, n = 97) and complete loss (CL) (