CERVICAL PATHOLOGIES RELATED TO DIFFERENT SUBTYPES OF HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS AS ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANT

Abstract

HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Also, non-sexual transmission of the virus is often debated. It is also a major public health problem because of its strong association with cervical cancer and precursor lesions. HPV is an environmental carcinogen that has the strongest relationship with cancer. Virtually all cases of cervical cancer are attributable to HPV infection. The early detection of cervical HPV infection is thus very important for detecting cervical pathologies at the early stages in order to prevent the development of cervical cancer and to decrease the number of deaths caused by cervical cancer. The aim of our study is to evaluate the frequency of the occurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in patients with cervical precancerous pathologies and cervical cancer in Corum, a city in central Anatolia, to compare the frequency of the occurrence of HPV 16, 18, and other types in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and malignancies and to evaluate the success of screening tests for detecting precursor lesions. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of the Hitit University Research and Training Hospital in Corum Province. The study comprised 347 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or invasive cervical cancer. The frequency of occurrence of HPV and the HPV types was evaluated for each cervical pathology. HPV type 16 was detected in 122 patients (45% of the HPV DNA-positive group), HPV type 18 in 11 patients (4% of the HPV DNA-positive group), HPV types 16 and 18 in 8 patients (3% of the HPV DNA-positive group), HPV 16 in combination with types other than HPV 16 and 18 in 17 patients (6% of the HPV DNA-positive group), and at least one type other than HPV 16 and 18 in 115 patients (42% of the HPV DNA-positive group). At least one type of HPV was detected in 149 (88.2%) of the 169 patients who had a Pap smear result reported as no intraepithelial neoplasia or malignancy (normal, inflammation, or infection).