Concurrent Infections With Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Intraepithelial Lesions: What Is the Relationship?

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is necessary for cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer to develop, but infection with HPV is not predictive of which women will develop cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs) or cancer. This study examines the relationship between the number of concurrent HPV infections and risk of SIL as well as the variations in HPV types in a diverse population. Methods: IRB approval was obtained. Women presenting for gynecologic exam were recruited to participate. ThinPrep samples were sent for cytological evaluation, and cervical cells were obtained for HPV screening and typing (INNO-LIPA genotyping kit); medical information was recorded into a Microsoft Access database. Data analysis was performed using JMP statistical software. Results: Seven hundred nineteen women were recruited to participate; race/ethnic distribution was 79.6% for African-American/Black and 14.2% for Caucasian/White with an average age of 31.4 years. Of the patients, 27.5% were HPV-positive, and the average number of HPV types present at the time of the Pap test was 2.55. There was no difference in the number of concurrent HPV infections when stratified via race/ethnicity and cervical cytology/pathology. Regardless of race/ethnicity and cytology and pathology, the three most common high-risk types of HPV were 52, 16, and 39. Conclusions: Abnormal cytology/pathology did not vary with number of concurrent HPV infections. J Clin Gynecol Obstet. 2017;6(2):29-33 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jcgo437w