Prevalence of Human Papilloma Virus Infection in Cervical Cancer Patients from Western Region of India

Background Cervical cancer (CaCx) is a major malignancy affecting women in India. Human papilloma viruses (HPVs) have been associated with occurrence of cervical cancer. Hence, we aimed to evaluate cervical cancer burden associated with HPV infections. Materials and Methods DNA was isolated from 100 CaCx patients. PCR was performed using degenerative primers for HPV infections as well as type-specific primers for HPV 16 and HPV 18 types. Results In the present cohort, 87%, 89% and 26% cases showed HPV positivity when analyzed using degenerative primers MY 09/11, GP 5+/6+ and CP I/II, respectively. While HPV 16 and HPV 18 positivity was observed in 56% and 15% cases, respectively, whereas 6% of the cases showed co-infection with both these types. All cervical cancer cases in the cohort were positive for HPV infection when analyzed by all the primer sets. Conclusion The data depict significant prevalence of HR-HPV types HPV 16 and HPV 18 while also showing high prevalence of HPV infection on detection with the degenerative primer sets. Thus, suggesting that investigation of HPV infection using multiple primers sets is very crucial to avoid false-negative results.