SUMMARY
The occurrence of certain types of HPV DNA, such as 16 and 18, in epithelial lesions of the ocular conjunctiva was analysed in this present study.
We studied 31 samples of epithelial lesions which the pathological diagnosis varied from metaplasia to invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the conjuntiva, embedded in paraffin blocks.
The samples was divided in two groups: 1) tissue samples from patients who developed recurrence after a former surgery and 2) tissue samples from patients who never developed recurrence. The detection of HPV DNA was done by PCR and "dot blot" hybridization techniques.
A positivity of 65% to HPV DNA was found in the group with recurrence and 65% in the group without recurrence. With regard to HPV DNA type 18, we found a positivity of 9% and 5% in the groups with and without recurrence, in this arder.
The incidence of HPV DNA types 16 and 18 was relatively high. This result could suggest a possibl envolvement of HP V in the pathogenesis of epithelial tumors such as squamous cell carcinoma of the conjunctiva.