Background: Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer and the sixth common cause of cancer deaths worldwide. p16 expression is associated with a better prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in high risk regions. Methods: Formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks from 110 patients with a diagnosis of ESCC were tested for p16 immunohistochemistry. The analysis of the data was done using Stata version 17.0. The Chi square test and corresponding p-values were used to compare the positivity of p16 with the independent variables of the study. The level of significance was assessed at a 95% confidence interval with a p-value of less than or equal to 0.05. Results: 110 cases diagnosed with ESCC were analyzed. The mean age of patients from whom specimens were collected was 59 years (SD ± 11). Most of the samples were from males, 73 (66.4%), while females were 37 (33.6%). The majority of the specimens were of conventional histological type, 108 (98.2%). Moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma was the most common grade (48.2%), followed by poorly differentiated squamous cfoma (19.1%). p16 expression was higher in ≥55 year olds compared to 45 - 54 and 35 - 44 age groups (25%, 13%, and 4%) respectively. Moderately differentiated squamous carcinoma constituted the majority of the samples that stained positive for p16 (54.8%), followed by poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (31%), and well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (14.2%). Conclusion: The prevalence of p16 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in our study was 38.2%. This study may help to bridge the gap in knowledge of p16 expression in ESCC in Uganda.
Cite this paper
Mohamud, M. , Lukande, R. and Kimwero, M. (2024). A Descriptive Study of Human Papilloma Virus in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Uganda Assessed by p16 Immunohistochemistry . Open Access Library Journal, 11, e1780. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1111780.
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