BackgroundA cross sectional study to investigate HPV prevalence according to age and cytology.MethodsWomen presenting to a gynaecological outpatient clinic for a Pap smear test were included in the study (n=3177). All women had cervical cytology and HPV testing.ResultsOverall prevalence of any 24 HPV type analysed was 33.1% (95% CI 31.5% to 34.7%) and HPV 16 and HPV 42 were the most frequent (6.7% (95% CI 5.8% to 7.6%), 6.8% (95% CI 5.9% to 7.6%)), in total samples. Multiple HPV infection rate was 12.9% (95% CI 11.8% to 14.1%). High risk HPV (hrHPV) types were present in 27.4% (95% CI 25.8% to 28.9%) of the samples.HPV prevalence was highest among 14 to 19 y.o (46.6% (95% CI 40.7%-52.4%)) and second highest among 30–34 y.o. (39.7%, 95% CI 35.4%–44%). HPV 16 was highest among 20–24 (9.0% (95% CI 6.4%–11.6%)) and second highest among 50 to 54 y.o. (6.3% (95% CI 2.9% to 9.8%).In Low-grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions (LgSIL) cytology samples, the most frequently detected hrHPV types were: 16 (14.5% (95% CI 12.1% to 16.9%)), 51 (13.0% (95% CI 10.7% to 15.3%)) and 53 (9.1% (95% CI 7.2% to 11.1%)) and in High-grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions (HgSIL) were: HPV 16 (37.2% (95% CI 26.5% to 47.9%)), HPV 51 (17.9% (95% CI 9.4% to 26.5%)) and HPV 18 (12.8% (95% CI 5.4% to 20.2%)).ConclusionsIn the population studied, HPV 16 and 51 were the most frequent detected hrHPV types. HPV positivity, hrHPV and multiple HPV types infections were higher in young women, while HPV prevalence declined with increasing age and presented two peaks a higher (14–19 y.o.) and a lower one (30–34 y.o.) These results may contribute to the creation of a national screening programme.

Lung cancer is the leading cancer worldwide among men and women with morbidity reaching 1.6 million. Human Papillomavirus is the causal factor of cervical cancer while its association with others is still under investigation. The purpose of our study is to examine the presence of HPV DNA as well as high-risk E6/E7 mRNA in patients with lung cancer.Lung tissues were collected during bronchoscopy and tested for HPV DNA and E6/E7 mRNA.67 lung tissue samples were analysed. The age range was 49–85 years old (y.o) with a mean age of 67.6 y.o. 9 patients were female and 58 were male. The study included 12 Small Cell Lung Cancers (SCLC) and 55 Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). HPV DNA was detected in 3.0% (2/67) of lung cancer cases, while no E6/E7 mRNA of five high-risk HPV types was found in tissue samples examined. The two positive patients had no prior history of an HPV related disease.Using the mRNA test as a gold standard for the association of HPV with malignant transformation, the present results showed no association of HPV status with lung cancer. Further investigation of more lung cancer tissues is required to reach safe conclusions.

To study HPV prevalence and HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, and 33 distribution in cervical smears in a cohort of Greek women. One thousand six hundred thirty-six samples were cytologically evaluated and molecularly analyzed, by PCR based assay. Abnormal cytology was identified in 997 women and 75.4% of them were HPV DNA positive, while 639 had normal cytology and 24.6% were HPV DNA positive. HPV was detected in 62.9% of 256 ASCUS smears, 89.3% of 516 LSIL, 86.7% of 60 HSIL and 47.3% of 165 with cervical carcinoma. Overall, HPV 11 was the most common type (13.4%), followed by 18 (10.3%), 6 (7.2%), 16 (6.4%), 31 (3.4%) and 33 (3.4%). Multiple infections with two (11.3%) or more types, primarily 11 and 18 (4.8%), were also identified. Low-risk types 11 and 6 were common in ASCUS (36.6% and 26.4%, respectively), and high-risk types 16 and 18 in HSIL (42.3% and 30.8%, respectively) and in cancer (51.3% and 41%, respectively). Multiple infections were detected in 2.2% of normal and 31.7% of HSIL. HPV prevalence was 75.4% in abnormal and 24.6% in normal cervical smears. HPV 16 and 18 were the most common types in cancer. Single infection with type 11 and multiple infections with 11 and 18 were more frequent.

A large proportion of vaginal and vulvar squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and intraepithelial neoplasias (VAIN and VIN) are associated with HPV infection, mainly type 16. The purpose of this study was to identify HPV genotypes, as well as E6/E7 mRNA expression of high-risk HPVs (16, 18, 31, 33, and 45) in 56 histology samples of VAIN, VIN, vaginal, and vulvar SCCs. HPV was identified in 56% of VAIN and 50% of vaginal SCCs, 71.4% of VIN and 50% of vulvar SCCs. E6/E7 mRNA expression was found in one-third of VAIN and in all vaginal SCCs, 42.9% of VIN and 83.3% of vulvar SCCs. Our data indicated that HPV 16 was the commonest genotype identified in VAIN and VIN and the only genotype found in SCCs of the vagina and vulva. These findings may suggest, in accordance with other studies, that mRNA assay might be useful in triaging lesions with increased risk of progression to cancer.

The E2 gene of human papilloma virus is expressed at the early stage of the viral life cycle, encoding the E2 transcription factor, and regulates the expression of E6 and E7 oncogenes. Disruption of E2 gene due to viral integration inhibits the transcriptional suppression of the HPV oncogenes, inducing cell proliferation. In the present study, a total of 22 HPV16-positive cytological specimens derived from high- and low-grade cervical intraepithelial lesions were investigated in order to identify sequence variations in the HPV16 E2 ORF. The E2 gene was amplified by PCR using external and internal overlapping sets of primers. Amplicons were cloned and sequenced. Disruption sites were detected in cervical samples diagnosed as high-grade cervical intraepithelial lesions. Moreover, sequence variations were identified in the E2 ORF and specific variations were associated with non-European variants such as African type I, African type II and Asian American. A total of three new sequence variations were identified at positions 2791, 2823 (transactivation domain) and 3361 (hinge region). Distinct phylogenetic branches were formed according to E2 analysis that characterized the different HPV16 variants. It was ascertained that non-European variants are circulating in the Greek population.