Human papillomavirus-16 in oral squamous cell carcinoma: Clinical correlates and 5-year survival

We examined 66 oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) for human papillomavirus-16 (HPV-16) infection to evaluate its prognostic significance. Cox regression analysis of 5-year survival demonstrated that patients without nodal metastasis or with intratumoural HPV-16 showed better prognoses compared with each counterpart. In Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, nodal status but not HPV-16 status was statistically significant. The 5-year survival rate of HPV-16 positive patients without nodal metastasis (94%) was extremely high, compared with that of HPV-16 negative patients with nodal metastasis (25%). These results suggest that HPV-16 status as well as nodal status may provide prognostic significance in patients with OSCC.