Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Prevalence and E6 Protein Expression in Gastric Cancer Tissue Samples Compared with Non-malignant and Control Groups in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran, 2021

 Gastric cancer (GC) is a major health problem worldwide. Several studies have shown the virus's role in cancer pathogenesis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in GC by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in hospitals in the East Azerbaijan province, Iran.

 In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 100 tissue samples of paraffin-embedded, including GC (50 samples), benign gastric hyperplasia (25 samples), and a control group (25 samples) were collected from the archives of laboratories in East Azerbaijan province from April to October 2021. The IHC and PCR were used to detect the HPV virus. SPSS software version 22 and t-test and Chi-Square statistical tests were used for data analysis.

8 out of 50 cancer samples were HPV positive by IHC and PCR. HPV-positive samples had a mean age of 62.87 ± 9.67 and a higher Gleason score. Men had the highest number of HPV-positive samples compared to women (5 samples vs. 3 samples). However, no viral genomes were observed in non-malignant and control samples. There was a significant relationship between HPV infection and GC (P=0.03).

 According to the present study's findings, the presence of HPV infection in GC plays an important role in the development of GC in the hospitals of East Azerbaijan province. Also, the results showed that PCR and IHC are both more sensitive and reliable in detecting HPV because the results of both IHC and PCR were the same. Hence IHC method can be used as an alternative to the PCR method to detect HPV oncoproteins.