Prevalence and histologic significance of cervical human papillomanvirus DNA detected in women at low and high risk for cervical neoplasia

Abstract

To determine and compare the prevalence and histologic significance of human papillomavirus (HPV) nucleic acids in cervical specimens from women at low (routine hysterectomy) and high (suspicion of cervical neoplasia) risk for cervical neoplasia. Cervical brushings were taken from the cervices of hysterectomy and conization or loop electrical excision specimens and analyzed for HPV nucleic acids by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Histopathology was confirmed by review of reports or, for HPV-positive results, re-review of the histopathology. Statistical analysis used Student t test or Fisher exact test. Four hundred seventeen and 43 low- and high-risk cervices, respectively, were studied. Statistically significant differences were observed in the index of HPV positivity between the low- and high-risk groups (1.7 versus 42%, P < .001) and the proportion of HPV being cancer-associated HPV types (14 versus 78%, P = .005). None of the 417 cervices from low-risk women contained HPV 16. In the high-risk group, histologically confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia lesion was statistically more likely to be associated with HPV (59 versus 13%, P = .005). Cervices from routine, low-risk hysterectomies in predominately middle-aged women have an extremely low index of cancer-associated HPVs. Considering the strong association of HPV with histologically proven disease, prospective studies exploring the relationship of cancer-associated HPVs to neoplasia in middle-aged women merit consideration.