Genotype distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) in histological sections of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive cervical carcinoma in Madrid, Spain

BACKGROUND: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) genotype distribution and co-infection occurrence was studied in cervical specimens from the city of Madrid (Spain), as a contribution to the knowledge of Human Papillomavirus genotype distribution and prevalence of carcinogenic HPV types in cervical lesions in Spain. METHODS: A total of 533 abnormal specimens, from the Hospital General Universitario “Gregorio Marañón” of Madrid, were studied. These included 19 benign lesions, 349 cervical intraepithelial neoplasias 1 (CIN1), 158 CIN2-3 and 7 invasive cervical carcinomas (ICC). HPV genotyping was performed using PCR and tube array hybridization. RESULTS: We detected 20 different HPV types: 13 carcinogenic high-risk HPV types (HR-HPVs), 2 probably carcinogenic high-risk HPV types (PHR-HPVs) and 5 carcinogenic low-risk HPV types (LR-HPVs). The most frequent HPV genotypes found in all specimens were HPV16 (26.0%), 31 (10.7%) and 58 (8.0%). HPV 18 was only detected in 5.0%. Co-infections were found in 30.7% of CIN 1 and 18.4% cases of CIN2-3. The highest percentage of HR HPVs was found in those specimens with a CIN2-3 lesion (93.7%). CONCLUSION: As our study shows the current tetravalent vaccine could be effective in our geographical area for preventing all the invasive cervical carcinomas. In addition, upon the estimates of the important presence of other HR-HPV types – such as 31, 58, 33 and 52 – in different preneoplasic lesions the effectiveness of HPV vaccination in our geographical area, and others with similar genotype distribution, should be limited.