ABSTRACT
Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is an evolving important risk factor for head and neck cancer (HNC) especially for individuals who do not smoke and drink alcohol. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of HPV infection and elucidate its association with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients in UK population. Methods: The presence and association of HPV was investigated in HNSCC patients in this retrospective clinical study. Samples were obtained from archived biopsies and resections. HPV screening was performed by the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the GP5+/GP6+ and the SPF1/2 consensus as primers and by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Samples of viral warts that were IHC positive for HPV and fibroepethelial polyps (FEP) were used as positive and negative controls respectively. Results: The cohort included 124 patients with HNSCC with an age range of 27–97 years (median 60 years) and a male to female ratio of 2:1. Among the 124 HNSCC 43/124 (34.7%) were from the tongue 74/124 (60%) presented with advanced stage III or IV disease 112/124 (90%) had a conventional phenotype 84/124 (68%) were moderately differentiated and 89/124 (72%) had bands or cords at the invasive front. Of the 124 patients with HNSCC 84/124 (68%) demonstrated the presence of HPV 0/124 (0%) was for oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). HPV16 was the associated virus type in all positive samples. However no significant association was observed between HPV positivity and other clinico-pathological variables including age and gender of the patients stage and malignancy differentiation. Conclusion: The results we provide suggest that HPV infection is low in HNSCC in general and absent in OSCC specifically in this UK population during this time period. This implies that HPV infection may not play an important role in HNSCC carcinogenesis compared to other risk factors in UK population. This information can aid in more effective treatment approaches for treating UK cases of HNSCC.
ABSTRACT
Para determinar el comportamiento fagocítico de macrófagos en función del tamaño de partícula fagocitada, se cultivaron macrófagos peritoneales de ratón CBA in vitro durante 4, 24, 48, 72 y 96 h. Posteriormente se les incubó con partículas de látex opsonizadas (cinco grupos con partículas de 2, 6, 10, 15 y 25 µm de diámetro). En en grupo de 2 µg, 70.1 por ciento+ 5.7 de los macrófagos fagocitó las partículas, decreciendo progresivamente esta proporción (6 µm, 54.5 por ciento+ 4.9; 10 µm, 25.5 por ciento+ 6.6) hasta el grupo de 15 µm (0.33 por ciento + 0.2). La fagocitosis estuvo inversamente correlacionada al tamaño de las partículas (r=-0.9). No hubo fagocitosis en el ensayo de 25 µm. Mediante microscopía electrónica de barrido se pudo observar que en todos los grupos se estableció un contacto entre partículas de látex y macrófagos. En todos los grupos hubo liberación de lisozima, encontrándose que una mayor liberación estuvo asociada a un tamaño de partícula más grande (r=0.91). Nuestros resultados apoyan el concepto de que la fagocitosis está limitada por el tamaño de la partícula y que el contacto con éstas provoca degranulación, fenómeno que puede dar lugar a la muerte de organismo (p.ej., bacterias) cuando son atacados por enzimas liberadas por los macrófagos.