HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS DNA IN MALIGNANT AND HYPERPLASTIC PROSTATE TISSUE OF BLACK-AND-WHITE MALES

This study hypothesized that human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a ssociated with increased prostate cancer risk, and that the 40% higher incidence rate in blacks is attributable to a greater prevalence of o ncogenic viral DNA in prostatic tissues. Viral L1 and E6 gene sequence s were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified in archival tissues f rom 56 prostate cancer cases and 42 hyperplastic controls. L1 amplimer s were hybridized by dot blot to HPV L1 generic probes, as were E6 amp limers to E6 probes specific for HPV 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, and 45. 12 .5% of cases and 9.5% of controls were HPV positive by L1 hybridizatio n (age/race adjusted odds ratio = 1.66, 95% confidence interval = 0.33 , 8.37). Four of 52 (7.7%) blacks were HPV positive compared to 7 of 4 6 (15.2%) whites. However, none of the L1-positive samples hybridized to the E6 type-specific probes, and positive results were not replicab le using a broader spectrum of PCR primers and probes. These data sugg est that HPV infection is not a significant risk factor for prostate c ancer and does not explain the excess cancer risk in blacks. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.