Human Papillomavirus-Associated Oral Epithelial Dysplasia: Report of 5 Illustrative Cases from Latin America

Human papillomavirus-associated oral epithelial dysplasia (HPV-OED) is a distinct oral epithelial disorder characterized by viral cytopathic changes caused by transcriptionally active high-risk HPV. The aim of the present study was to report 5 additional cases from Latin America.

Clinical data from five patients with HPV-OED were obtained from the archives of three oral pathology services from Brazil and Chile. All cases were submitted to morphological, p16 expression and in situ hybridization (ISH) for HPV analyses.

Four patients were male and one patient was female, with a mean age of 55.4 years. Four patients were HIV seropositive and two were smokers. Three cases affected the buccal mucosa and commissure, one of which had an additional plaque in the soft palate, and one case each occurred on the floor of mouth and lower labial mucosa. Most cases presented as well-demarcated white plaques with a verrucous surface. One case presented multiple lesions ranging from normal to white-colored slightly elevated plaques with a cobblestone surface. Peripheral mucosal pigmentation was observed in two cases. All five cases presented with the characteristic microscopic features of HPV-OED, including severe dysplasia with numerous karyorrhectic and apoptotic cells, full-thickness “block positivity” for p16 and high Ki-67 index (> 90%) sharply demarcated from the adjacent non-dysplastic epithelium. Wide-spectrum DNA ISH–HPV was positive in 4 cases. All patients were treated with conservative surgical excision with no signs of recurrence after a mean of 39-month follow-up.

This represents the first series of HPV-OED from Latin America; most cases presented as well-demarcated papillary white plaques affecting the buccal mucosa and commissure of HIV-positive middle-aged men, two of them exhibiting peripheral pigmentation caused by reactive melanocytes. The typical microscopic findings of HPV-OED were observed in all cases, which also showed strong p16 positivity in a continuous band through the full thickness of the epithelium and high Ki67.