PCR‐detected genital papillomavirus infection: Prevalence and association with risk factors for cervical cancer

Thomas Rohan, Valerie Mann, John McLaughlin, Delsworth G. Harnish, He Yu, David Smith, Ruth Davis, R. Michael Shier, William Rawls

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

65 Scopus citations

Abstract

In an investigation conducted in student health clinic patients, the polymerase chain reaction was used to detect human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA, thereby allowing measurement of the prevalence of HPV infection and study of the association between HPV infection and risk factors for cervical cancer. Of 159 women eligible to participate, 105 (66%) provided specimen of cervical cells for HPV typing, and also answered an interviewer‐administered questionnaire which sought information on risk factors for cervical cancer. Nucleic acid extracted from cervical cells was screened with primers for HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 33 and with an HPV Consensus primer. Overall, the prevalence of HPV infection was 18.1%, while for HPV‐6/11 it was 2.9% and for HPV‐16/18 it was 10.5%. There were statistically significant increases in risk of HPV infection with history of ever having smoked cigarettes (overall, and for HPV‐16 alone) and with a history of usually having sexual intercourse during menstrual periods (overall, but not for HPV‐16), and these associations were independent of the effects of age at first sexual intercourse and number of sexual partners. The latter 2 variables, as well as the total number of occasions of sexual intercourse, a history of anal intercourse, and a history of ever having used oral contraceptives, were not associated with statistically significant alterations in risk of HPV infection.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)856-860
Number of pages5
JournalInternational Journal of Cancer
Volume49
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1991
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'PCR‐detected genital papillomavirus infection: Prevalence and association with risk factors for cervical cancer'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this