Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV) in squamous cell carcinoma of the conjunctiva.
Methods:
Archival paraffin embedded tissue from squamous cell carcinoma with different degrees of differentiation from the years 1992-1995, 2003-2004, 2010-2012 were analyzed for the presence of (HPV) by polymerase chain reaction.
Results:
There were 44 samples processed, the median age of presentation was 60.2 years, male gender was mostly affected by 58%, the nasal localization was present in 88.63%, one of the samples was taken from orbital exenteration and the rest were retrieved by excisional biopsy. Poorly differentiated carcinoma was reported in 12 samples, 18 as moderate differentiated, 14 samples as well differentiated. HPV was present in 3 samples (6.86%), well differentiated carcinoma was reported in all 3 cases.
Conclusions:
The presence of HPV DNA was low. There is insufficient data to correlate the presence of HPV and the grade of differentiation.