Human papillomavirus in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Context: We studied the role of Human papillomavirus (HPV) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma from North East India. Methods: Fifteen archival paraffin embedded esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues were retrieved. Thin sections were made to extract DNA from the tissues. HeLa cell lines which harbor HPV DNA were used as a positive control. Nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to analyze the presence of HPV DNA. Amplified products were analyzed on a 2% agarose gel and visualized by ethidium bromide staining. Positive product was sequenced for confirmation of the result. Results: HPV DNA was not able to detect in any esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue. Positive control HeLa cells DNA was found to be positive for HPV DNA by nested PCR. Conclusions: Our study shows the negative association of HPV in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. However, further studies are needed with a large number of sample size to rule out the role of HPV in this region.