. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 May 1.

Published in final edited form as: Oral Maxillofac Surg Clin North Am. 2014 May;26(2):123–141. doi: 10.1016/j.coms.2014.01.001

Table 1.

Comparison of conventional/tobacco associated squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and HPV associated SCC

	HPV associated SCC	SCC (Conventional/ tobacco exposure)
Age (mean yrs)	53	57
Sex	M>F 2.8:1	M>F 1.5:1
Location	Tonsils, base of tongue>>nasopharynx	Oral cavity, larynx
LN	30-60% present at initial presentation Often cystic LN metastases Maybe bilateral	Prognostic factor
Prognosis (disease specific survival)
3 yrs	82%	57%
Morphology	Often non-keratinizing High nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio Relatively monotonous	Usually keratinizing Surface dysplasia may be seen
Associated with	HPV types 16>>18>others	Tobacco exposure
Molecular alterations	High overexpressed p16^* (IHC) Blocked Rb, p53 by viral E6, E7 HPV +high risk types 16>others	LOH in Chr3p and/or Chr 9p and others Mutated p53

Chr=Chromosome; F=female; IHC=immunohistochemical evaluation; LOH=loss of heterozygosity; LN=lymph node metastases; M=males; yrs=years

p16 overexpression is not always associated with HPV status particularly outside of the oropharynx.