Human Papillomavirus 16 and 18 Infection in Oral Cancer in Thailand: A Multicenter Study.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes 16 and 18 among patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in Thailand and investigate the associations of p16 expression and HPV16/18 with the demographic, clinicopathologic, and risk parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 403 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded OSCC specimens from four centers in four regions were obtained. p16 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The detection of HPV16/18 DNA was performed by polymerase chain reaction.  Results: Of all, 172 specimens (42.7%) were presented with amplifiable extracted DNA. Among these, 62.8% were positive for p16, 8.1% were positive for HPV16/18, and 5.8% were positive for both methods. Of all HPV-positive specimens, HPV18 was detected in 57.1%; HPV16 in 14.3%; and HPV16 and 18 (co-infection) in 28.6%. The prevalence of HPV16/18 varied between centers, with the highest rate in the northern center (20.0%). There was no significant correlation between p16 expression and HPV16/18. There were no significant associations of p16 expression and/or HPV16/18 with all variables. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of HPV16/18 infection in OSCC geographically varied in Thailand, with the highest rate in the northern region. Poor correlation between p16 and HPV16/18 suggests p16 not be used as a surrogate marker for HPV-positive OSCC.
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Relationships of Ex-Vivo Drug Resistance Assay and Cytokine Production with Clinicopathological Features in the Primary Cell Culture of Thai Ovarian and Fallopian Tube Cancer Patients

Objective: Our goal was to determine the ex-vivo drug resistance assay, as well as the cytokine production, in response to platinum-based chemotherapy treatment in primary culture cells established from the tumor tissue of ovarian or fallopian tube carcinoma patients, and to predict the clinical responses to chemotherapy. Methods: Sensitivity to the platinum-based drug was analyzed in two ovarian cancer cell lines and 19 tumor samples using the primary cell culture obtained from 19 patients having ovarian or fallopian tube cancer that had undergone surgery from 2014 to 2017. Results: Our findings in the ovarian cancer cell lines showed that SKOV3 cells displayed 10-fold greater resistance to cisplatin and 5.8 times more resistance to carboplatin than A2780 cells. SKOV3 cells displayed platinum-induced IL-6 and IL-8 overproduction whereas wild type A2780 displayed no detectable cytokine production. Regarding the primary cell culture obtained from patients, ex-vivo drug resistance assay results revealed that although extreme drug resistance was correlated with late stage ovarian cancer (P= 0.031), it could not independently predict or alter the outcomes of patients with ovarian or fallopian tube cancer. No relationship was found between basal cytokine secretion and the clinical parameters. However, carboplatin-induced IL-6 and IL-8 production had a significant association with the clinical response to chemotherapy (P=0.016 and P=0.038 respectively). Carboplatin-induced IL-8 overproduction was correlated with FIGO staging III-IV (P=0.026), but no correlation between carboplatin-induced IL-6 and FIGO staging (P= 0.061) was noted. Conclusion: These results suggest that cytokine production in response to platinum-based chemotherapy in primary culture cells may be useful as a predictive marker for the therapeutic outcomes among ovarian or fallopian tube cancer patients.

Case Series of HIV Infection-Associated Arteriopathy: Diagnosis, Management, and Outcome Over a 5-Year period at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, Chiang Mai University.

Patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can present with 4 pathology types: drug-induced vasospasm (ergotism), arterial limb ischemia, critical limb ischemia, and aneurysm. Although these problems are common vascular problems, they result in increased morbidity and mortality in HIV-infected patients, especially aneurysm. Patients with these problems tend to be diagnosed with difficulty because of atypical symptoms and signs. Because of lack of data in treatment outcome literature, our report explores and provides information on HIV infection-related arteriopathy. There were 17 patients in our 5-year review. There was no death in patients except the aneurysm type. The survival of aneurysm patients was significantly lower than from other pathologies (P = .003). Our case series showed good short-term outcome, and patients were not at risk for less beneficial surgical procedures.