Low risk and high risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) and cervical cancer in Zimbabwe: Epidemiological evidence

Abstract

Objective: To establish the prevalence of detectable low-risk and high-risk, oncogenic HPV types in cervical swabs of women with histologically proven cancer of the cervix. Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Harare Central and Parirenyatwa Hospitals. Subjects: 119 women with histologically proven cervical cancer of whom 63 had the degree of differentiation of the tumour reported. Main Outcome Measures: Frequency of infection with high and low-risk human papillomaviruses. Results: The presence of HPV DN A was demonstrated in 63% (75/119) of cases. Low risk HPVs were present in 26% (31/119) and high-risk HP Vs were demonstrated in 51% (61/119) of samples tested. Co-infection with both low-risk and high-risk HPVs was observed in 14% (17/119) of the specimens. High-risk HPVs were detected in 55% (21/38) of poorly differentiated tumours while 60% (15/25) of moderately and well- differentiated tumours showed the presence of high-risk HPVs. Conclusion: High-risk human papillomaviruses are associated with cervical cancer. There was no significant difference in the frequency of high-risk HPV types in women with moderately to well-differentiated tumours and those with poorly-differentiated tumors.