Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Sep 24;16(19):3256.
doi: 10.3390/cancers16193256.

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Detection in Oral Rinse vs. Oral Sponge: A Preliminary Accuracy Report in Oral Cancer Patients

Vera Panzarella  1   2 , Michela Buttà  3 , Fortunato Buttacavoli  1   4 , Giuseppina Capra  3 , Alberto Firenze  2   3 , Nicola Serra  5 , Giovanna Giuliana  1 , Giuseppe Pizzo  1   4 , Giuseppina Campisi  4 , Rodolfo Mauceri  1   4
Affiliations

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Detection in Oral Rinse vs. Oral Sponge: A Preliminary Accuracy Report in Oral Cancer Patients

Vera Panzarella et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Background/objectives: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a significant etiological factor in the development of oropharyngeal carcinogenesis. The detection of HPV in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) could be also crucial for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment planning. This study compares the efficacy and accuracy of two non-invasive sampling methods, oral rinse, and oral sponge, in detecting HPV DNA in patients with OSCC.

Methods: Twenty-six patients with histologically confirmed OSCCs were recruited (M/F = 15/11; mean age 68.6). From each patient, two self-collected oral specimens, in the form of an oral rinse and a salivary sponge (i.e., LolliSponge), were collected, and subsequently processed, utilizing INNO-LiPA HPV Genotyping Extra II for HPV DNA detection; Results: Oral sponge detection showed high specificity (100%), sensitivity (85.7%), and accuracy (96.2%) compared to the oral rinse sampling, also demonstrating an area AUC for its diagnostic performance significantly greater than 0.5 (0.93 vs. 0.5, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: This study supports that oral sponge sampling offers valuable non-invasive alternatives for HPV detection in patients with OSCC, with the potentiality to facilitate saliva sampling in patients that may exhibit functional deficit due to OSCC. Further research is recommended to validate these findings in larger cohorts and to explore the integration of these methods into routine clinical practice for the management of HPV-related OSCC.

Keywords: HPV DNA; human papillomavirus; human papillomavirus DNA test; oral squamous cell carcinoma; polymerase chain reaction; salivary diagnostics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Rose-plot graph about the percentages of correct and incorrect cases diagnosed by LolliSponge diagnostic.
Figure 2
Figure 2
ROC curve analysis for the LolliSponge diagnostic performance for HPV positive patients. AUC under the red line is equal to 0.5.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Badwelan M., Muaddi H., Ahmed A., Lee K.T., Tran S.D. Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Concomitant Primary Tumors, What Do We Know? A Review of the Literature. Curr. Oncol. 2023;30:3721–3734. doi: 10.3390/curroncol30040283. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nokovitch L., Maquet C., Crampon F., Taihi I., Roussel L.-M., Obongo R., Virard F., Fervers B., Deneuve S. Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma Risk Factors: State of the Art. J. Clin. Med. 2023;12:3264. doi: 10.3390/jcm12093264. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Faraji F., Rettig E.M., Tsai H., El Asmar M., Fung N., Eisele D.W., Fakhry C. The Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus in Oropharyngeal Cancer Is Increasing Regardless of Sex or Race, and the Influence of Sex and Race on Survival Is Modified by Human Papillomavirus Tumor Status. Cancer. 2019;125:761–769. doi: 10.1002/cncr.31841. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ko Y.C.K., Liu K.Y.P., Chen E., Zhu S.Y., Poh C.F. P53-Abnormal Oral Epithelial Dysplasias Are Associated with High Risks of Progression and Local Recurrence—A Retrospective Study in a Longitudinal Cohort. Mod. Pathol. 2024. in press . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Timbang M.R., Sim M.W., Bewley A.F., Farwell D.G., Mantravadi A., Moore M.G. HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer: A Review on Burden of the Disease and Opportunities for Prevention and Early Detection. Hum. Vaccines Immunother. 2019;15:1920–1928. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2019.1600985. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources