Association of human papillomavirus type 58 variant with the risk of cervical cancer

Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) type 58 has been found to be prevalent among Chinese patients with cervical cancer. This study examined the oncogenic risk of HPV58 variants in Hong Kong, a southern part of China. Altogether, 1924 women were studied: 42.8% with a normal cervix, 16.2% with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) I, 12.7% with CIN II, 20.8% with CIN III, and 7.6% with invasive cervical cancer (ICC). The overall prevalence of HPV58 was 11.4% (220) and increased statistically significantly with the severity of neoplasia (P(trend)<.001, chi(2) test for trend). Among HPV58-positive women, the occurrence of E7 632C-->T (T20I) and E7 760G-->A (G63S) variants (T20I/G63S) showed a positive trend of association with the severity of neoplasia (P(trend)<.001, chi(2) test for trend). HPV58 variants carrying these two substitutions showed an odds ratio (OR) for ICC of 26.79 (95% confidence interval = 10.14 to 74.72), and this OR was 6.9-fold higher than the ORs of variants without these substitutions. Patients with CIN III or ICC who were also infected with T20I/G63S variants had a statistically significant younger age at diagnosis than those infected with other variants (median age = 37 years versus 48 years; P =.038, two-sided Mann-Whitney U test). Thus, HPV58 variants carrying E7 T20I/G63S substitutions may be associated with an increased risk for cervical cancer.