Persistent HPV Infections Linked To Greater Risk Of Cancerous Lesions.(human papillomavirus)

2002 JAN 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is associated with a much greater risk of developing squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs, cancerous lesions between layers of tissues) in the cervix, researchers say.

Nicolas F. Schlecht, MSc, of McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and colleagues studied 1611 women in Sao Paolo, Brazil, from November 1993 through March 1997 with follow-up until June 2000, to determine the risks of abnormal tissue growth in the cervix before and after infection with HPV.

The researchers found a strong relationship between persistent HPV infection and SIL incidence.

The HPV infection is believed to be the central cause of cervical cancer. Other studies, according to the authors, have established the relationship between HPV and cervical cancer, but have not provided information about cumulative or persistent exposure to cervical HPV infection and the incidence of cancerous cervical lesions.

The women in the study were free of cervical lesions at the beginning of the study and underwent Papanicolaou testing (Pap smears) and HPV testing every four months in the first year of the study and twice yearly thereafter.

The incidence rate of SILs was 0.73 per 1000 women-months among women free of HPV at the first two visits and 8.68 per 1000 women-months among women infected with HPV type 16 or type 18 (which have been linked to high-grade lesions) persisting over both visits. Women who had negative tests ...