Human papillomavirus (HPV) is not the main cause of preinvasive and invasive cervical cancer among patients in Delta Region, Egypt

BACKGROUND:

Cervical cancer remains a significant problem worldwide particularly in underdeveloped countries. It is necessary to have a persistent infection of the cervix with a high-risk or oncogenic human Papillomavirus (HPV) virus to develop cervical cancer.

OBJECTIVES:

To study the association between HPV and pre-invasive and invasive cancer cervix among patients referred to Early Cancer Detection Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Mansoura University Hospital, Delta region, Egypt.

METHODS:

Cervical specimens of 100 histologically confirmed premalignant and malignant cervical lesions were subjected to HPV detection and genotyping by extraction of DNA from cervical biopsy using a commercial PCR kit.

RESULTS:

HPV DNA testing was done, 36 cases were positive (36%). Correlations of age, duration of marriage, and parity were non significant (P = 0.56, 0.72, and 0.35 respectively) while correlations of residence, oral contraceptive use, smoking, and immunosuppresion were sig- nificant (P = 0.006, 0.001, 0.001, and 0.01 respectively). The prevalence of HPV in premalignant and malignant cervical lesions in our study was 39.5% & 33.3% respec tively. The commonest HPV genotypes associated with premalignant cervical lesions were HPV16; 11/17(64.7%) and HPV18; 11/17 (64.7%) mostly in the form of mul- tiple infections with HPV16+18; 7/17 (41.17%). The commonest HPV genotypes associated with malignant cervical lesions in our cases were HPV16; 15/19 (78.9%) and HPV18; 13/19 (68.42%) also in the form of multiple infections with HPV16+18; 10/19 (52.63%).

CONCLUSION:

The prevalence of HPV in premalignant and malignant cervical lesions was 39.5% & 33.3% respectively, this means that HPV is not the main cause of premalignant and malignant cervical lesions in Delta region in Egypt. HPV infection mostly in the form of multiple infections with HPV16+18 genotypes. Further studies are needed to clarify actual association of HPV and premalignant and malignant cervical lesions to determine the usefulness of HPV vaccination in our locality.