IMPLICATIONS OF HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS TYPE FOR SURVIVAL IN CERVICAL SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA

In a Swedish series of 107 invasive squamous carcinomas of the cervix, DNA extraction from paraffin-embedded material was successful in 97 cases. The prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in this material was 86.6%, as determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using both consensus and type-specific primers. HPV type 16 was most common (42.3%; other types were 31 (12.3%), 18 (9.3%) and 33 (10.3%). Seventeen cases (17.3%) were positive for the consensus primers only and were regarded as HPV of unknown type. There was no significant difference in corrected survival between patients with HPV-positive or -negative tumors. In the HPV-positive group, patients with tumors containing HPV 33 or HPV 18 had a significantly poorer prognosis than patients with tumors containing other types of HPV DNA (relative hazard 3.18, 95% confidence interval 1.37-7.39, P = 0.007), implying a prognostic significance of HPV type.