Prevalence and Significance of Human Papillomavirus in Oral Tongue Cancer: The Mayo Clinic Experience

Purpose Cigarette smoking and alcohol use have markedly decreased in the past 40 years. However, there has been an increasing trend in the incidence of tongue cancer, particularly in young patients without traditional risk factors. This study sought to examine the prevalence and significance of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and its clinical significance in patients with oral tongue cancer. Patients and Methods Fresh-frozen tissues from 51 patients with oral tongue cancer, treated with primary surgery from January 2004 to December 2006, were included in the study. The presence of HPV infection in tumor specimens was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction with HPV L1 consensus primers (GP 5+/GP 6+) and HPV-16-specific E6 primer pairs. Demographic and clinical data were collected to analyze patient outcomes. Results The overall frequency of HPV in oral tongue cancer in our study was 1.96% (1/51). Young patients below the age of 45 years accounted for 15.7% (8/51) of the total number of patients. Eighty-seven percent of the younger age group, including a single patient with an HPV-16-positive tumor, were alive and free from disease during the follow-up period. The overall survival of the study group was 81.4%. Conclusions Our data suggest that the incidence of HPV in oral tongue cancer is low and is unlikely to play a significant role in the etiology, pathogenesis, and clinical outcomes of oral tongue cancer. In addition, HPV is unlikely to constitute a significant factor in the rising trend of oral tongue cancer in the young population.