METHODS: Altogether 67 esophageal squamous cell carcinomas histologically diagnosed between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2014 at the Department of Pathology, University of Malaya Medical Center, Malaysia were considered for HPV analysis using two commercially available methods, polymerase chain reaction with flow-through hybridization (21 HPV GenoArray Diagnostic Kit) and multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (Anyplex II HPV28 Detection). The DNA amplifiability of the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor was checked by amplification of a 268 bp segment of the human β-globin gene (GH20/PC04) prior to HPV detection.

RESULTS: HPV detection was finally carried out in 51 patients. HPV16 was detected in the moderately differentiated, stage IV lower esophageal tumor of a 32-year-old Malaysian-born Chinese woman by both methods. Except for a predilection for Indians, the clinical characteristics of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas in this Malaysian cohort were generally similar to those of other populations.