Research article
Human Papillomavirus type distribution in invasive cervical cancer in Uganda
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* Corresponding author: Elisabete Weiderpass eliwei@ki.se
1 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
2 Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
3 Unit of Infections and Cancer, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain
4 DDL Diagnostic Laboratory, Voorburg, The Netherlands
5 Department of Etiological Research, The Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo, and Department of Community Medicine, Tromso University, Norway
6 Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Samfunded Folkhalsan, Helsinki, Finland
BMC Infectious Diseases 2008, 8:85 doi:10.1186/1471-2334-8-85
Published: 24 June 2008Abstract
Background
We conducted a study aiming to describe Human Papillomavirus (HPV) type distribution in invasive cervical carcinoma in Uganda.
Methods
191 archival cervical carcinoma samples diagnosed in the Department of Pathology, Makerere University in Kampala between 1968 and 1992 were analysed using a sensitive PCR-Reverse Hybridization Line Probe Assay.
Results
Out of the 186 cases of confirmed invasive cervical cancer in the study paraffin blocks, 114 were positive for HPV DNA. Specific HPV genotypes were identifiable in 109 cases: HPV 16, 18, 31, 35, 39, 44, 45, 51, 52 and 70. These occurred as single infections in 105 cases (96.3%) and as multiple infections in 4 cases (3.7%). HPV 16 or 18 accounted for 80% (84/105) of cases with single infection.
Conclusion
The results of this study confirm the role of HPV 16 and 18 in cervical cancer pathogenesis in the Ugandan population. The results suggest that the currently available HPV vaccines against HPV 16 and 18 could possibly prevent the majority of invasive cervical cancers in Uganda.