O.2.1 Detection and genotyping of high risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) DNA sequences in archival tissue from cases of cervical cancer

Abstract

With the introduction of HPV vaccination in the UK, baseline data on the prevalence of high risk Human Papillomavirus (hrHPV) in cervical cancer and precursor lesions (CIN3) will be important for assessing the impact of the vaccine programme. In a study sponsored by the NHS Cervical Screening Programme, samples from 1000 cervical cancers and 1000 CIN3 lesions, obtained from five pathology departments in England, are being tested for hrHPV. We present preliminary HPV genotyping data on 358 cervical cancer cases, including 301 squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and 57 adenocarcinomas. HPV DNA was detected in 89.7% SCC cases and 80.7% adenocarcinomas. HPV 16 and/or 18 (the hrHPV types in the current HPV vaccines) were detected alone or in combination in 68.8% and 71.9% cases respectively and with other hrHPV types in a further 4.7% and 1.8% cases respectively. Non-vaccine hrHPV types were detected at lower frequencies, with the most prevalent types in SCC cases being HPV 31, 33, 45 and 52. These data indicate that provided there is a high uptake, vaccination against HPV 16 and 18 could potentially prevent approximately 70% cases of cervical cancer in the UK. The UK programme will use the Cervarix HPV vaccine and cross protection against HPV 45 and 31 has been reported for this vaccine1. Interestingly, these HPV types were amongst the most prevalent in SCC after HPV 16 and 18, raising the possibility of prevention of additional cases of cervical cancer.