Human papillomavirus profile of women in Belize City, Belize: correlation with cervical cytopathologic findings

Cathro, Helen P.; Loya, Theresa; Dominguez, Frederick; Howe, Susan L.; Howell, Renee; Orndorff, Kyle; Moreno, Jessica; Mendez, Elena; Fung, Po Chu; Beer, Natalie L.; Allen, Peter; Sosa, Alba M.; Gurka, Kelly K.; Stoler, Mark H.; Frierson, Henry F.

doi:10.1016/j.humpath.2008.12.015

« Previous Next »Human Pathology
Volume 40, Issue 7 , Pages 942-949, July 2009

Human papillomavirus profile of women in Belize City, Belize: correlation with cervical cytopathologic findings☆

Helen P. Cathro, MBChB, MPH
- Department of Pathology, PO Box 800214, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA
- Corresponding author.
Theresa Loya, MD, MPH
- Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90650, USA
Frederick Dominguez, MD, MPH
- Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90650, USA
Susan L. Howe, MPH
- Clínica Maria Luisa Ortiz, Mulukuku, Nicaragua
Renee Howell, PhD
- Digene Corporation, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, USA
Kyle Orndorff, MS
- Digene Corporation, Gaithersburg, MD 20878, USA
Jessica Moreno, MD
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85701, USA
Elena Mendez, MD
- Hermosillo, 83000 Mexico
Po Chu Fung, MBA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Natalie L. Beer, MD
- Belize Ministry of Health, Belmopan, Belize
Peter Allen, DDS, MPH
- Belize Ministry of Health, Belmopan, Belize
Alba M. Sosa, MD
- Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, Belize City, Belize
Kelly K. Gurka, PhD, MPH
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA
Mark H. Stoler, MD
- Department of Pathology, PO Box 800214, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA
Henry F. Frierson Jr, MD
- Department of Pathology, PO Box 800214, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA

Received 17 October 2008; received in revised form 22 December 2008; accepted 30 December 2008. published online 19 March 2009.

Summary

Cervical carcinoma is the most common cancer among Belizean women; however, data regarding the frequency of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes and their association with cervical cancer are nonexistent. We therefore included HPV genotyping as part of a week-long cervical cancer screening campaign conducted in Belize City in 2007. Conventional Papanicolaou smears with Hybrid Capture (HC) 2 HPV testing were performed on 463 women. All HC2-positive samples were genotyped using a developmental GP5+/GP6+ polymerase chain reaction-coupled Luminex assay for 2 low-risk and 18 high-risk HPV types. The prevalence of high-risk HPV was 15.6% in the total population, 10.1% in those with normal cytologic findings, and 93.3% in women with a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion. Of patients with HPV infections, 35% had multiple types (5.4% of the total group). Of all women and of women with normal cytologic findings, 5.2% and 2.8%, respectively, had HPV16 or 18. For all women, HPV16, 18, 56, and 52 were present in decreasing order of frequency. HPV11 was present in only one patient, and none had HPV6. HPV16 was found in 47% of high-grade squamous epithelial lesions; however, no case of HSIL had HPV18 or 45. HPV35 and HPV58 were the next most common types in high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, each occurring in 20% of cases of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, followed by HPV31 in 13.3%. Although women younger than 25 years old were underrepresented, these data suggest that the HPV profile of this cohort of Belizean women differs somewhat from that in the region. In addition, these data are of importance with regard to the development of HPV vaccines that will be used in less developed countries, where care should be taken not to implement vaccination at the cost of basic screening and diagnostic services.

Keywords: Cervical, Cytology, Papanicolaou smear, HPV, HC2, Genotyping, Belize, Central America

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☆ The study was sponsored by The American Cancer Society (Oklahoma City, OK, USA); The Belizean Ministry of Health (Belmopan, Belize); The Department of Pathology, the University of Virginia at Charlottesville (Charlottesville, VA, USA); Digene Corporation (Gaithersburg, MD, USA).

PII: S0046-8177(09)00002-1

doi:10.1016/j.humpath.2008.12.015

« Previous Next »Human Pathology
Volume 40, Issue 7 , Pages 942-949, July 2009

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