Role of P16 Expression in the Prognosis of Patients With Laryngeal Cancer: A Single Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

Background A possible oncogenic role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in head and neck cancers (mainly oropharynx tumors) has been suggested. This significant association has been considered true for oropharynx tumors; however, the association between HPV infection and laryngeal carcinomas is yet to be established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between p16 expression and long-term overall, disease-free, and disease-specific survival (OS, DF, and DSS, respectively) in patients surgically treated for laryngeal carcinoma. Materials and Methods Seventy-four previously untreated laryngeal carcinoma patients who underwent surgical treatment were considered for this retrospective study. The tissue specimens were processed for immunohistochemical p16 protein (surrogate HPV marker) detection. Results Survival analysis of the p16 expression of the primary tumor showed that the 5-year OS rates were 90% and 29.7% for the p16-positive and negative groups, respectively ( P = .003). The 5-year DFS and DSS also differed between both groups ( P < .001), whereas the 5-year DSS seemed to be related to tumor/lymph node classification and p16 expression. However, only p16 expression was identified as an independent prognostic factor associated with OS and DSS. Conclusions Surgically treated p16-positive laryngeal cancer patients may represent a subset of patients with a better prognosis than their p16-negative counterparts.