Human papillomavirus 16 in breast cancer of women treated for high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN III).

Women with both a history of high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN III) and breast carcinoma as second primary cancer were selected for s tudying the presence of HPV in breast carcinomas. Paraffin embedded materia l from 38 patients with 41 breast carcinoma cases after CIN III were examin ed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization. By PCR we detected HPV 16 DNA in 19 out of 41 cases (46%) of the breast carcinomas. O ne case proved to be HPV 16 positive also by in situ hybridization. HPV 16 was also detected in 32 out of the 38 patients with CIN III (84%). All HPV 16 positive breast carcinomas were HPV 16 positive in their corresponding C IN III lesions. Eight patients with diagnosed breast cancer before the CIN III lesions were used as controls. None of these had HPV positive breast ca rcinomas. No cases were positive for HPV 11, 18, or 33. HPV 16 was detected in the primary tumours, in local metastases from HPV 16 positive tumours, in a distant HPV 16 positive breast carcinoma metastasis to the colon, and in other primary cancers in patients with HPV 16 positive breast carcinomas and HPV 16 positive CIN III. Estrogen and progesterone receptors were quan tified in the HPV positive and HPV negative breast carcinomas, and there wa s no significant difference in the fraction positive in the two groups. Onc ogenic HPV DNA might be transported from an original site of infection to o ther organs by blood or lymph, and possibly be a factor in the development of cancer in different organs.