Human papillomavirus detection rates in Bowen disease: correlation with pelvic and digital region involvement and specific p53 immunostaining patterns.

This article investigates the relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) and Bowen disease (BD), focusing on differences in HPV detection rates across body regions and the expression patterns of p53, p16, and Ki-67 in BD lesions. Using next-generation sequencing, the study found that 19.3% of BD samples were HPV-positive, exclusively with α-HPV types, predominantly HPV-16, with significantly higher detection rates in the pelvic (69%) and digital (50%) areas compared to other sites. HPV presence correlated with p53 negativity, a p53 "non-overexpression" immunohistochemical pattern, and discordance between p16 and p53 staining, while p16 positivity and Ki-67 expression showed no significant association with HPV status. These findings suggest that sexually and genito-digitally transmitted α-HPVs may play an oncogenic role in BD pathogenesis specifically in pelvic and digital regions.