Male Breast Cancer: No Evidence of Human Papillomavirus Etiology

Background and Aims: Once hypothetical, association between virus and cancer is a reality in many diseases. A possible role of Human papilloma virus (HPV) in breast carcinogenesis is conflicting. The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence of HPV in archival breast cancer specimens of male patients. Material and Methods: The Pathology Department's archives between 1998-2008 were scanned. Tissue blocks of 27 male breast cancers and 27 gynecomastia tissue specimens were included to the study. DNA was extracted according to manufacturer's protocol. Results: This study was not able to demonstrate HPV infection nor in male breast cancer or gynecomastia tissue specimens. Conclusions: This is the first study investigating the presence of HPV in male breast cancer samples. All investigated tumoral and non-tumoral samples were negative for HPV DNA. According to our findings, possibility of HPV function in in breast oncogenesis decreases.