The relationship between human papillomavirus and cyclin D1 gene amplification in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck

infection by oncogenic subtypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cyclin D1 gene (CCND1) amplification are frequent events in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. The objective of this paper is to establish the relationship between the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) gene sequences and the development of CCND1 gene amplification in these tumours. 59 squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck were studied for HPV types 6b and 16 and CCND1 gene amplification by polymerase chain reaction. HPV DNA was detected in 14 tumors (24%). Ten of them were positive for the HPV type 6b and 4 for the HPV type 16. CCND1 gene amplification was found in 15 cases (25%). Although we have found a higher frequency of CCND1 amplification in the HPV-positive cases (36%, versus 22% in the HPV-negative cases), these differences were not statistically significant (P= 0,32). The presence of HPV gene sequences does not seem to be related to a significative higher incidence of CCND1 gene amplification in the squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.