Human papillomavirus associated with bladder carcinoma? Analysis by polymerase chain reaction

Background: The aim of the present study was to assess the possible etiolog ic role of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in bladder tumors. Methods: Forty-two fresh biopsy specimens from different grades and stages of bladder tumor cases and 10 normal bladder mucosa biopsies were studied. Specimens were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with HPV-specifi c general primer set for the detection of viral DNA. Polymerase chain react ion-positive samples were also tested with HPV 16- and 18-specific primers by the same method. Results: We found two samples (4.8%) containing HPV DNA among the TaG1 blad der tumors. All other specimens, including the control group, were found to be negative by PCR. Neither of the two HPV-positive patients had immune de ficiency and/or genital warts. Human papillomavirus 16 was detected by type -specific primers in one sample, but the other HPV-positive sample could no t be typed. Conclusions: The low prevalence of HPV in this and many previous studies do es not support an etiologic role of HPV in bladder carcinogenesis. We detec ted the virus in two early stage tumors, but none was detected in the high- grade samples. However, to clarify the positivity of HPV in these occasiona l cases, future studies must be designed by using in situ PCR techniques, i ncluding samples from tumors and normal bladder mucosa from the same patien t.