Abstract:

Objective To investigate the infection of HPV16/18 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma （ESCC） and its relationship with p53 mutation. Methods PCR was used to detect HPV16/18 E6、E7 genes in 56 cases of ESCC tissues and 24 cases of normal esophageal tissues； immunohistochemical technique（SP） was used to detect the protein of p53. Results In total，the infection rates of HPV16/18 in ESCC tissue and normal tissue were 44.6% and 12.5%，respectively，and the positive expression rates of p53 were 41.1% and 4.2%，respectively. In ESCC tissue，patients displayed higher infection rate of HPV16/18 and positive expression rate of p53 as compared to those in the normal tissue（χ²=7.630，P=0.006； χ²=10.896，P<0.001）.  Clinicopathological analysis demonstrated that the HPV16/18 infection in the ESCC tissue was associated with histopathologic grading，TNM stage and lymph node metastasis（P<0.05）. Additionally， HPV16/18 infection rate increased in parallel with p53 positive expression rate （r=0.565，P<0.001）. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the median OS of patients with positive HPV infection and positive p53 expression were less than those with negative HPV infection and negative for p53 expression（21 months vs 39 months，χ²=4.306，P=0.038；17 months vs 41 months，χ²=5.868，P=0.015）. After adjustment for potential confounders，Multivariate Cox regression showed that HPV infection （HR=1.834，95% CI：1.010-3.330，P=0.046） and p53 positive expression （HR=2.189，95% CI：1.182-4.054，P=0.013） could increase the risk of death in patients with ESCC. Conclusion HPV infection and p53 positive expression were both higher in ESCC，which may jointly promote the occurrence and development of ESCC and affect its prognosis.

Key words: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, HPV16/18, p53, PCR, Immunohistochemistry