Histological evidence for the presence of condylomatous epithelial lesions in association with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

The laryngeal specimens obtained from 116 patients with established invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx were histologically assessed with special reference to the detection of morphological manifestations of human papilloma virus (HPV), as newly described in the uterine cervix, i.e. the three different types of condylomas (the papillomatous, the flat and the inverted ones). Epithelial changes fulfilling the criteria of the papillomatous condyloma were found in 15 cases, those of the inverted condyloma in 9 cases, and lesions identical to the flat type condyloma were present in 25 specimens. The role of HPV in the development of these lesions is discussed, and the possibility is raised that HPV might be the agent responsible for or contributing to the development of squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx in man.