Lack of synergistic association between human papillomavirus and ras gene point mutation in laryngeal carcinomas

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Abstract
The spectrum of human papillomavirus (HPV) subtypes in laryngeal carcinomas was investigated by combined polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. HPV DNA was detected in 11 (24%) of 45 cases, including HPV 16 in 9 cases and HPV 18 in 2 cases. Other HPV subtypes commonly found in the female genital organs were not detected. In addition, the point mutation of codons 12 and 13 in c-Ki-ras-2, c-Ha-ras-1, and N-ras genes was studied by the PCR-single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) method. Of 45 cases tested, only 1 had a point mutation of c-Ki-ras-2 gene at codon 12. These results indicate that the incidence of ras gene point mutation is uncommon and that the synergistic effect of HPV infection and ras gene activation in laryngeal carcinogenesis is probably rare.