Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences, cilt.33, sa.4, ss.1112-1118, 2013 (Scopus)
Objective: Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) represent the most frequent cancers among the Caucasian population worldwide. The possibility of the involvement of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the development of these cancers is suggested by several studies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the presence of various types of HPV in NMSC lesions of immunocompetent patients. Material and Methods: Biopsies taken from NMSC and non-sun exposed healthy skin from each of 32 immunocompetent patients were analysed for presence of HPV DNA by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using degenerate primers which can detect a broad spectrum of HPV types. Results: HPV DNA was detected in one of 21 basal cell carcinomas, from one of two actinic keratosis and from none of 8 squamous cell carcinomas, and none of the control biopsy specimens. It was thought that in addition to factors associated with Turkish population, the specimens which were found to be HPV negative did not harbor HPV DNA, or although tissues harbor HPV DNA, it was not detected with the technique we used because of low viral load. Conclusion: We could not show an association between HPV infection and NMSC by using real-time PCR technique. Our data suggest that the use of MY09/MY11 primer pairs alone in PCR technique is not sufficient to evaluate the HPV prevalence in NMSC. We thought that studies with more patients and using more sensitive detection techniques which will be developed in the future are needed to show a significant association between HPV and NMSC development. © 2013 by Türkiye Klinikleri.