Screening of High and Low-risk Human Papillomavirus Variants in Cervical Cancer Patients by Polymerase Chain Reaction: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Cervical cancer is the second most common gynaecological malignancy worldwide. Persistent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the principal risk factor leading to cervical carcinogenesis and causes a large number of casualties. Aim: To estimate the risk factors and symptoms related to cervical carcinoma and to check for mono-infection or co-infections of low-risk and high-risk HPVs in Northern Indian females. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2019 to January 2021 on 110 confirmed cervical cancer tissue samples collected from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Pandit BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India. Information about risk factors and symptoms was collected using a semistructured proforma. Detection of HPV infection and HPV genotyping (16, 18, 33, 58, 6, and 11) was done by using type-specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Fisher’s exact test was applied to determine the association of high- risk HPV infection with other risk factors using GraphPad Prism Version 6 (La Jolla, California, USA). A p-value of ≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: Of all the studied cases, 68 (62%) were above 55 years old, 67 (61%) were in a postmenopausal state, and 86 (78%) were from a rural background. Irregular menstruation was observed in 99 (90%) cases, bleeding after menopause in 59 (54%) cases, and early age at first intercourse in 57 (52%) cases were the most common symptoms. HPV infection was found in all cases of cervical carcinoma. The incidence of high- risk-HPV16 (84%) and HPV18 (73%) was the most prominent, while the incidence of low-risk-HPV6 (7.2%) and HPV11 (6%) was the lowest. Co-infection of HPV16/18 was the Highest in 60 (54.5%) cases, followed by HPV16/33 in 13 (11.8%) cases. Multi-infection of HPV types 16/18/33 was found in 10 (9.1%) cases, and multi-infection of HPV types 16/18/33/6/11, except HPV58, was found in one patient. Conclusion: Higher age, postmenopausal status, early age at intercourse, and poor menstrual hygiene were significantly associated with high-risk HPV co-infection. Educating women about the risk factors and symptoms of cervical cancer and screening for high-risk HPVs in rural women are required to reduce the prevalence of cervical cancer in Northern India.