Equine penile squamous cell carcinomas are associated with the presence of equine papillomavirus type 2 DNA sequences

Abstract

Forty cases of equine penile disease were screened with polymerase chain reaction for the presence of papillomaviral DNA. Cases consisted of 20 squamous cell carcinomas (average age of horse, 23.9 years) and 20 non-squamous cell carcinoma diseases (average age of horse, 13.3 years). All horses but one originated from the Northeastern United States. Breeds were not recorded. As based on MY09/MY11 consensus primers, DNA sequences from equine papillomavirus type 2 were amplified from 9 of 20 horses (45%) with penile squamous cell carcinoma and only 1 of 20 horses (5%) with non-squamous cell carcinoma penile disease. Equine papillomavirus type 2 DNA was the only papillomaviral DNA amplified from any of the 40 horses. Tissues from the 10 horses in which papillomaviral DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction were also screened with in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. The presence of papillomavirus was demonstrated in a subset of these by in situ hybridization (6 of 10) and immunohistochemistry (1 of 10). This report describes a possible association between equine penile squamous cell carcinomas and equine papillomavirus type 2. This study is also the first report of equine papillomavirus type 2 infection in North American horses.