Objective: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is a common malignant tumor in Northeast China and is frequently associated with well-established risk factors like smoking and alcohol abuse. Human papilloma virus (HPV) is an epitheliotropic oncogenic virus that has been detected in a variety of head and neck tumors including LSCC. This retrospective study was to investigate the prevalence of HPV infection in patients with LSCC. Methods: In situ hybridization was performed in 99 patients with LSCC to detect the expression of HPV-16 E6 mRNA.

Results: The positive rate of HPV16 E6 mRNA was 36.36% (36/99) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), whereas only 3 of 50 (6%) specimens of the normal laryngeal mucosa as a control group showed positive results (P<0.05).Additionally, there was no corelation between HPV16 and age, gender, clinical stage, nodal status and tumor site (P>0.05).

Conclusion: The results suggest that the increased prevalence of HPV infection compared to normal laryngeal mucosa and the fact that high-risk HPV types (especially type 16) were the most frequently identified do not allow the exclusion of HPV as a risk factor in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. However, their clinical value remains to be further investigated.