High incidence of human papillomavirus infection in cervical carcinoma patients in South Hungary

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in cervical carcinoma patients. A nested case-control study was performed to investigate the relationship between HPV infection and cervical carcinoma. A total of 347 women 169 of whom gave abnormal Pap smear tests; were recruited to participate in the study; 39 of them suffered from invasive carcinoma. The overall incidence of HPV infection in the cancer, positive cytology and normal cytology groups was 74% (29/39), 55% (72/130) and 4% (7/178), respectively (p<0.001). The risk for progression to cervical carcinoma when the HPV infection was associated with abnormal cytology was 2.16 (95%, CI: [1.01-4.69]). The incidence of HPV infection associated with abnormal cytology correlated significantly with the presence of cervical carcinoma.