Human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 infection is not detected in rectal carcinoma

Sandra F Martins; Vânia Mariano; Mesquita Rodrigues; Adhemar Longatto-Filho

doi:10.1186/s13027-020-00281-z

Human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 infection is not detected in rectal carcinoma

Infect Agent Cancer. 2020 Mar 5:15:17. doi: 10.1186/s13027-020-00281-z. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Sandra F Martins^#^{1

2

3}, Vânia Mariano^#⁴, Mesquita Rodrigues³, Adhemar Longatto-Filho^{1

2

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ 1Life and Health Science Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
² ICVS/3B's-PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Braga, Portugal.
³ Coloproctology Unit, Braga Hospital, Braga, Portugal.
⁴ Molecular Oncology Research Center, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁵ 5Laboratory of Medical Investigation (LIM) 14, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Introduction: Persistence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections is associated with squamous cell carcinomas of different human anatomic sites. Several studies have suggested a potential role for HPV infection, particularly HPV16 genotype, in rectal cancer carcinogenesis.. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of oncogenic HPV 16 viral DNA sequences in rectal carcinomas cases retrieved from the pathology archive of Braga Hospital, North Portuga.

Methods: TaqMan-based type-specific real-time PCR for HPV 16 was performed using primers and probe targeting HPV16 E7 region.

Results: Most of the rectal cancer patients (88.5%, n = 206 patients), were symptomatic at diagnosis. The majority of the lesions (55.3%, n = 129) presented malignancies of polypoid/vegetant phenotype. 26.8% (n = 63) had synchronic metastasis at diagnosis. 26.2% (n = 61) patients had clinical indication for neoadjuvant therapy. Most patients with rectal cancer were stage IV (19.7% patients), followed by stage IIA (19.3%) and stage I (18.5%). All cases of the present series tested negative for HPV16.

Conclusion: The total of negative tests for HPV 16 infection is a robust argument to support the assumption that HPV 16 infection, despite of previous evidences, is not involved in rectal cancer carcinogenesis and progression.

Keywords: Carcinogenesis; Human papillomavirus 16; Rectal cancer.