Correlation of viral factors with cervical cancer in Taiwan

Yu-Yen Yang^1,2, Lim-Woh Koh³, Ju-Hsin Tsai⁴, Chung-Hung Tsai⁵, Eric Fook-Chuen Wong¹, Shyh-Jye Lin⁶, Chi-Chiang Yang⁶
Departments of ¹Medical Research, ²Clinical Laboratory and ³Obstetrics and Gynecology, Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Changhua; Departments of ⁴Surgery and ⁵Pathology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung; and ⁶School of Medical Technology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC

Received: January 19, 2004 Revised: April 7, 2004 Accepted: May 7, 2004

Corresponding author: Dr. Chi-Chiang Yang, School of Medical Technology, Chung Shan Medical University, 110, Section 1, Chien-Kuo North Road, Taichung, Taiwan 402, ROC. E-mail:

The correlation of viral factors with cervical cancer was investigated. 27 cervical cancer biopsies and 29 normal cervical scrapings were determined by polymerase chain reaction method for 6 viruses, including human papillomavirus (HPV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1, HSV-2, and human herpes virus (HHV)-8. Among 27 biopsies of cervical cancer, HPV was identified in 18. Of these HPV-positive specimens, 9 cases of HPV type 16 were identified, 2 cases of HPV type 18 and 1 case of mixed infection with HPV types 16 and 18 were identified. Among the HPV types detected, type-16 is the most closely associated with cervical cancer and type-18 ranks second. Of the remaining 6 cases, 1 case of HPV-45, 1 case of mixed infection with HPV type 35, CMV and HSV-2, and 4 cases of unidentified HPV type were also found. EBV, HSV-1 and HHV-8 were not found in the cervical cancer samples and might have no or little relationship with cervical cancer. Among the 29 specimens in the normal female control group, no viral infection was detected. The correlation of HPV with cervical cancer was significantly different between frozen tissues and paraffin-embedded tissues. Other viruses such as HSV-2 and CMV are not predictive of cervical cancer. They might not be involved in the oncogenic processes directly but might enhance the possibility of oncogenesis or infect cancer tissues opportunistically.

Key words: Cervical neoplasms, human papillomavirus, polymerase chain reaction, risk factors, tumor virus infection

J Microbiol Immunol Infect 2004;37:282-287.