Relationship between expressions of HSP70 and HPV16E7 protein in human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVE To study the expressions of heat shock protein 70 and human papillomavirus16E7 protein in human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and their relationship in the genesis of human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS The expressions of HSP70 and HPV16E7 protein were detected by the immunohistochemical method in 78 specimens with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, 24 specimens with vocal cord polyps and 10 specimens of normal laryngeal tissues. RESULTS In human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, vocal cord polyps and normal laryngeal tissues, the positive expression rates of HSP70 were 69.2 % , 8.3 % and 0 % respectively, with those of HPV16E7 protein being 43.6 % 4.2% and 0 % respectively. There was a significant difference of the expression rate of HSP70 or HPV16E7 protein between the laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and the vocal cord polyps(P0.05). There was a significant difference of the expression rate of HSP70 between the laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma with positive expression of HPV16E7 protein and that with negative expression of HPV16E7 protein (P0.05), whose positive expression rates were 85.3 % and 56.8 % respectively. The positive expression of HSP70 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma with positive expression of HPV16E7 protein was significantly higher than that with negative expression of HPV16E7 protein. CONCLUSION The overexpression of HSP70 can be induced by HPV16E7 protein, which may contribute to the genesis of human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Detection of the expression of HSP70 and HPV16E7 protein may be useful in evaluation of the aggressiveness of human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.