Ch. Thompson et al., CYTOMEGALOVIRUS AND CERVICAL-CANCER - FAILURE TO DETECT A DIRECT ASSOCIATION OR AN INTERACTION WITH HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUSES, Gynecologic oncology, 54(1), 1994, pp. 40-46
To investigate the possibility of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) involve
ment in the aetiology of cervical carcinoma or in the development of a
more clinically aggressive cancer cell phenotype, biopsies of cervica
l cancer from 103 women undergoing primary therapy for invasive (Stage
Ia to IV) cervical cancer were investigated using a polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) designed to detect sequences from the IE mtrII region o
f HCMV. PCR assays were also used on the same specimens to identify th
e presence of common human papillomavirus (HPV) types associated with
cervical cancer (HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 52, and 58). Of the 103 cancers e
xamined, only 4 contained detectable HCMV DNAs, a proportion lower tha
n that found by another Australian group investigating the cervical ca
rriage of HCMV in women with normal cervices. In contrast, 89 of these
cancers were positive for HPV DNA sequences, with HPV 16 (65/103) and
HPV 18 (17/103) being most commonly detected. Three of the 4 HCMV-pos
itive tumors were also positive for HPV 16 DNA. An examination of the
relevant histopathological and clinical data revealed no evidence to s
upport a contention that cancers positive for HCMV are associated with
any unusual histologic cell types or with aggressive clinical behavio
r. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.