Background and ObjectiveCervical cancer is the second most common female genital cancer worldwide. There is strong epidemiological and molecular evidence indicating that human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a necessary event in the development of cervical intraepithelial lesion and subsequent invasive carcinoma. The aim of this study was to investigate the HPV genotype distribution and prevalence in cervical cancer of Thai women.Materials and MethodsOne hundred fifty-five cervical cancer specimens were enrolled in this study. The HPV genotypes were determined by means of the combined use of a line probe assay (INNO-LiPA) and DNA chip methods.ResultsOf the overall prevalence of HPV in the study group, 83.2% and 11.6% of the cases had single and multiple genotype infections, respectively. The most prevalent genotypes were HPV 16 (51%), followed by HPV 18 (20%), HPV 52 (10.3%), HPV 58 (5.8%), and HPV 33 (4.5%). All HPV genotypes found in this study could be classified as 13 high-risk HPV, 2 low-risk HPV, and 2 additional types. Of the specimens, 94.8% had at least one high-risk HPV genotype infection.ConclusionAs for the potential benefits of commercially available prophylactic vaccines to prevent HPV infection in Thailand, both vaccines (bivalent and quadrivalent) can protect from HPV-related cervical cancer in only approximately 71%. Therefore, screening programs such as routine Papanicolaou test, cytology, and HPV DNA detection are still essential for cervical cancer prevention. Moreover, future generations of HPV vaccines should also include the other most common genotypes and decrease the severe adverse effects reported at the present time.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the leading cause of cervical cancer. Urine-based HPV testing offers a simple and non-invasive method because of its increasing acceptance. A total of 164 pairs of cervical swab and urine samples from Thai women who underwent cervical cancer screening were used for HPV testing with HPV GenoArray Diagnostic Kits. The overall concordance percentage for HPV detection in the cervical swab and urine samples was 65.2%. The HPV genotypes most commonly detected were HPV16 and HPV18. An analysis of the urine samples and a second analysis of the cervical swab samples showed that the differences in the overall HPV detection rate between women with normal and abnormal cytology were not significant (p > 0.05). Urine samples processed with the GenoArray assay is an alternative for women who decline to undergo Pap smear even though it is not ideal as the first-line screening option.

The risk of cervical cancer development in women infected with HPV varies in relation to the individual host's genetic makeup. Many studies on polymorphisms as genetic factors have been aimed at analyzing associations with cervical cancer. In this study, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 3 genes were investigated in relation to cervical cancer progression in HPV16 infected women with lesions. Two thousand cervical specimens were typed by PCR sequencing methods for TP53 (rs1042522), p16 (rs11515 and rs3088440) and NQO1 (rs1800566). Ninety two HPV16 positive cases and thirty two normal cases were randomly selected. Analysis of TP53 (rs1042522

Objective: The aim of this study was to attain molecular knowledge of human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV18) by sequencing the whole genome of HPV18 isolated from Thai women at various clinical stages of disease progression. Method: Our group analyzed 9 samples of whole-genome HPV18 in infected women ranging from normal to cervical cancer by PCR, a sequencing method and bioinformatics programs. Results: Phylogenetic analysis based on the whole genome showed that HPV18 samples were more closely related to the European and Asian-American type than the African type. The vaccine strain’s L1 nucleotide (US patent 5820870) showed a close relationship to the African type. However, our data cannot indicate the correlation between cytological data and nucleotide or amino acid variation. Conclusion: Our group cannot draw any inference between the clinical stage of disease progression and amino acid alterations as there were only 1 or 2 samples available for each clinical trial. However, we hope that these new data on the HPV genome, which are representative of the entire genome of HPV in Southeast Asia, can serve as basis data for future research on the pathogenesis of cervical cancer. Additionally, the second-generation HPV18 vaccines should be tested on both HPV18-L1 and HPV18-L2 for increasing potential protection.

Global prevalence of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) exceeds that of other types. This project has been aimed at attaining basic molecular knowledge of HPV16 by sequencing the whole genome of HPV16 isolated from Thai women at various clinical stages of disease progression. Our group analyzed seven samples of HPV16 in infected women ranging from normal to cervical cancer and discovered two critical non-synonymous changes within the coding region converting the E2-219P prototype to E2-219T in cervical cancer and the L2-269S prototype to L2-269D in CIN III, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on the whole genome with special emphasis on the genes E2, E6, L1, and L2 showed the Thai samples to be more closely related to the European than the non-European strains. The vaccine strain's L1 polypeptides showed close relationship to our samples. The results provide basic data for future research on cervical cancer pathogenesis and representative data of HPV16 genome in Southeast Asia.