Correlation between Load of HPV 16 DNA in Cervical Cancer and HPV 16 DNA in Lymph Nodes

摘要

OBJECTIVE To determine the association between viral loadof human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) DNA in the primary focusof cervical carcinoma and HPV16 DNA in pelvic lymph nodes.METHODS The HPV16 DNA load was measured by fluorescentquantitation polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) in 17 primaryfoci. HPV16 DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction(PCR) using HPV16 type-specific primers in 296 pelvic lymphnodes which were from 17 cases of cervical cancer.RESULTS The viral load of HPV16 DNA showed statisticallysignificant differences between tumors with a diameter of 0.05).The load of HPV16 in the primary lesion was not associated withthat in the lymph nodes. There were 38 HPV16 DNA positivenodes in the total 296 nodes. The rate of positivity of HPV16 DNAin lymph nodes showed statistically significant differences inconsideration of maximum tumor diameter, tumor differentiation,histologic type, depth of myometial infiltration and the metastaticstatus of the nodes, respectively (P < 0.05).CONCLUSION Viral load of HPV16 in the primary cancer focuscorrelated with the quantity of tumor cells in the primary focusbut not with the existence of HPV DNA positive lymph nodes.Detection of HPV DNA may help to find the early metastases thatcannot be evaluated histopathologically, but the prognostic valueof HPV positive lymph nodes needs further examination.