High Risk Human Papillomavirus in a Group of Portuguese Women

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the etiological agent for cervical cancer and genital warts. Worldwide, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women and the high risk HPV (HR-HPV), namely HPV 16 and 18 are responsible for the most of the cases. The objective was to analyze the HR-HPV frequency in a group of women referred for HR-HPV testing. Clinical samples from 3117 women were perform by Cobas® HPV test (Roche Molecular Systems, CA, USA), this assay detected HPV 16 and HPV 18 and ‘Other HR-HPV’ (-31,-33,-35,-39,-45,-51,-52,-56,-58,-59,-66 and 68). Positive samples for ‘Other HR-HPV’ were sequenced for genotyping using MY09/11 primer´s. HR-HPV frequency was 20.8% (649/3117). Among the positive samples, ‘Other HR-HPV’ was the most common (72.8%; 473/649). HPV 16 and 18 were detected only in 22.8% (148/649) and 7.4% (48/649) of the cases, respectively. 7.4% (48/649) of the positive women were infected with more than one HPV (34 with ‘Other HR-HPV’ + HPV 16; 8 with ‘Other HR-HPV’ + HPV 18; 5 with ‘Other HR-HPV’ + HPV 16 + HPV 18 and 1 with HPV 16 + HPV 18). Sequencing of ‘Other HR-HPV’ is ongoing and preliminary results shown the majority frequency for HPV 31 (11.7%) followed by HPV 56 (9.1%) and 8.9% for the HPV 66. The HR-HPV frequency is high (20.8%), 30.4 % of these women were infected with HPV 16 or HPV 18 which is a high frequency. This study reveals the importance of the implementation of screening programs, and the use of HPV detection.N/