The aim of the study was to investigate prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection in sinonasal carcinomas by immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and polymerase chain reaction, detecting p16(INK4a) protein (p16) expression and presence of both HPV DNA and HPV E6/E7 messenger RNA (mRNA). The study comprised 47 males and 26 females, aged 23-83 years (median 62 years), mostly (67 %) with a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Of the tumors, 53 % arose in the nasal cavity, 42 % in the maxillary sinus, and 5 % in the ethmoid complex. The follow-up period ranged 1-241 months (median 19 months). HPV16, HPV18, or HPV35 were detected in 18/73 (25 %) tumors, 17 SCCs, and 1 small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. There was a strong correlation between results of HPV detection methods and p16 expression (p < 0.005). HPV-positive SCCs occurred more frequently in smokers (p = 0.04) and were more frequently p16-positive (p < 0.0001) and nonkeratinizing (p = 0.02), the latter occurring more commonly in nasal cavity (p = 0.025). Median survival for HPV-positive SCC patients was 30 months, while for HPV-negative SCC patients was 14 months (p = 0.23). In summary, we confirm that HR-HPV is actively involved in the etiopathogenesis of a significant subset of sinonasal SCCs. p16 may be used as a reliable surrogate marker for determination of HPV status also in sinonasal SCCs. Although we observed a trend toward better overall survival in HPV-positive SCCs, the prognostic impact of HPV status in sinonasal carcinomas needs to be elucidated by further studies.

• Keywords
• Human papillomavirus (HPV), Nonkeratinizing, RNA, Sinonasal carcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma, p16 protein,
• MeSH
• Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck MeSH
• DNA, Viral analysis   MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Transcription, Genetic MeSH
• Immunohistochemistry MeSH
• Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• RNA, Messenger analysis   MeSH
• Neoplasm Proteins analysis   MeSH
• Head and Neck Neoplasms mortality   pathology   virology   MeSH
• Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms mortality   pathology   virology   MeSH
• Oncogene Proteins, Viral genetics   MeSH
• Papillomaviridae isolation & purification   MeSH
• Papillomavirus E7 Proteins genetics   MeSH
• Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction MeSH
• Repressor Proteins genetics   MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Carcinoma, Squamous Cell mortality   pathology   virology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• CDKN2A protein, human MeSH Browser
• DNA, Viral MeSH
• E6 protein, Human papillomavirus type 16 MeSH Browser
• Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 MeSH
• RNA, Messenger MeSH
• Neoplasm Proteins MeSH
• oncogene protein E7, Human papillomavirus type 16 MeSH Browser
• Oncogene Proteins, Viral MeSH
• Papillomavirus E7 Proteins MeSH
• Repressor Proteins MeSH