Squamous papillomatosis of the oesophagus with malignant degeneration and demonstration of the human papilloma virus

Van Cutsem, Eric; Geboes, Karel; Visser, L; De Vos, Rita; Janssens, J; Lerut, Antoon; Vantrappen, Gaston

Squamous papillomatosis of the oesophagus with malignant degeneration and demonstration of the human papilloma virus

Author:

Van Cutsem, Eric

Geboes, Karel ; Visser, L ; De Vos, Rita ; Janssens, J ; Lerut, Antoon ; Vantrappen, Gaston

Keywords:

HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS, ESOPHAGEAL SQUAMOUS PAPILLOMA, MALIGNANCY, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 1103 Clinical Sciences, 3202 Clinical sciences

Abstract:

We report a female patient with a very large squamous papilloma of the oesophagus with malignant degeneration, in which the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV) was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We were unable to identify the virus using hybridization with radiolabelled probes of known papillomavirus DNA. We hypothesize that the HPV plays a role in the aetiology of the oesophageal squamous papilloma and that these lesions can be premalignant.