Detection of Human Papillomavirus in Osophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma samples in Mazandaran Province, Iran

We examined 170 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients. All subjects live in Mazandaran province, a region with high incidence rate of esophageal cancer and have become known as the “Asian Esophageal Cancer Belt”. Samples were tested for HPV-DNA by MY09/11 and Gp5+/6+ general primers using nested PCR. Of the 170 ESCC samples, 86 (50.6%) were male and 84 (49.4%) were female. The mean age of the subjects was 66.5±11.1 and ranged from 35 to 91 years. Totally, HPV-DNA was detected in 62 (36.5%) of the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma samples by HPV L1 consensus primers. Considering the location of esophagus specimens, of 62 positive samples, 16 (25.8%) samples were in the upper third, 28 (45.2%) in the middle third, and 18(29.0%) in the lower third.  The current study showed a relatively substantial prevalence of HPV infection in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma samples in Mazandaran province.