Comparison of 2 Different PCR-Based Technologies for the Detection of Human Papilloma Virus from Paraffin-Embedded Tissue

Abstract

The great interest in molecular epidemiology of human papilloma virus (HPV) in cervical cancer led us to perform a thorough evaluation of 2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods for the detection of HPV in archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare HPV detection in FFPE samples that have histopathologic diagnosis of invasive cervical cancer using SPF10 broad-spectrum primers PCR followed by DNA enzyme immunoassay and LiPA25 (version 1: Labo Biomedical products, Rijswijk, The Netherlands version 1) and the Papillomavirus Clinical Arrays technique (Genómica, Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain). In this study, 235 biopsies with histopathologic diagnosis of invasive cervical cancer were analyzed for the detection and genotyping of HPV by LiPA25 SPF10-PCR System (version 1) and Papillomavirus Clinical Arrays technique. The detection of HPV DNA with Genómica technique was 75.1%, and 91.9% with LiPA25 SPF10-PCR. The Genómica technique detected a higher percentage of multiple infections (35%) than LiPA25 (8.9%), with a very low agreement for the detection of multiple infections between them (P>0.05). Our study highlights an important difference between 2 PCR-based methods for detection and genotyping of HPV. LiPA25 SPF10-PCR technology may be more adequate than Genómica for the detection of HPV DNA when using FFPE tissue.