Absence of human papillomavirus genomic sequences detected by the polymerase chain reaction in oesophageal and gastric carcinomas in Japan

Abstract

Aims - To estimate the occurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in oesophageal or gastric carcinomas in patients in Japan. Methods - 103 oesophageal and 99 gastric carcinomas were investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays using two consensus (targeting either the L1 or the E6-E7 regions) and two type specific (type 16 and 18) primer sets. A β globin gene specific primer set was also applied to examine the quality of the extracted DNA. Results - Amplification of β globin gene was clearly visible in 92 (89.3%) of the 103 oesophageal, and 89 (89.8/o) of the 99 gastric carcinoma specimens. However, the entire series of tumour DNA was negative for HPV sequences by PCR assay using all four primer sets. Conclusion - HPV is not likely to be involved in oesophageal or gastric tumorigenesis in Japanese patients.