Context: Ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) represents a spectrum of ocular surface tumors ranging from intraepithelial to invasive. The genesis of OSSN is multifactorial, possibly including human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the role of which is controversial.
Objective: To evaluate the role of high-risk HPV16 and HPV18 in OSSN.
Design: Retrospective and prospective noncomparative case series. In this study, histologically proven cases of OSSN were evaluated in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections (n = 50) and fresh tissues (n = 7) for the presence of HPV by polymerase chain reaction using MY09/MY11 consensus primers, HPV16 and HPV18 type-specific primers, and in situ hybridization-catalyzed reporter deposition (ISH-CARD). Cervical tumors (n = 19) along with SiHa and HeLa cell lines served as positive controls for HPV analysis.
Results: The study included 48 patients with OSSN who accounted for 57 specimens, with a median patient age of 28.5 years (range, 1.5-70 years). These specimens included 36 squamous cell carcinomas and 21 conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasias. All of the cases were found to be negative for high-risk HPV using polymerase chain reaction and ISH-CARD assay, whereas the SiHa and HeLa cell lines were appropriately positive. Of the cervical tumors that served as positive controls, 18 were positive for HPV16, and 1 was positive for HPV18.
Conclusions: Sensitive, type-specific polymerase chain reaction for detection of HPV16 and HPV18, polymerase chain reaction assay for consensus HPV sequences, and ISH-CARD did not show the presence of high-risk HPV in OSSN. Thus, HPV appears to play no significant role in the etiology of OSSN in India.