Absence of Human Papillomavirus in Benign and Malignant Breast Tissue

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Malignant breast tumors, which are one of the most important deadly cancers in women, like many other cancers, are proposed to be related to viruses etiologically. Proper management of breast carcinoma necessitates an identification of the etiological factors. Human Papillomavirus is considered to have an etiological role in breast carcinoma. We carried out this study to find out if Human Papillomavirus-DNA is present in the malignant and benign breast tissue in our patients. METHODS: Seventy-five paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissues and 75 normal breast tissues and benign breast lesions were examined in this study (case-control) to look for Human Papillomavirus-DNA employing Nested Polymerase Chain reaction. The tissues were examined over a period of ten years in the pathology department of the Pathobiology Laboratory Center of Tehran. RESULTS: No Human Papillomavirus-DNA was found in any of the malignant or control group specimens. CONCLUSION: Our results showed no evidence of Human Papillomavirus in cancerous and benign tissues, which is consistent with some other studies in English medical literature. More investigations using more specimens from different parts of the country are required to confirm the presence or absence of any connection between Human Papillomavirus and development of breast carcinoma in Iran.