Human papillomavirus infection following radiation therapy or concurrent chemoradiation for invasive cervical cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection in patients with invasive cervical cancer after treatment by concurrent chemoradiation therapy. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Cervicovaginal mucous samples were collected from fifty-five patients with invasive cervical cancer two months after treatment completion and tested for HPV genotypes. RESULTS: Of the 55 patients, 31 (56.36%) were found to be positive for HPV among these 25 (45.46%) were positive for high-risk HPV. The most common high-risk HPV found was type 16 which accounted for 35.48% (11/31) of cases. Other high-risk HPV found were types 18 (16.13%), 52 (16.13%) and 58 (12.90%). Follow-up time for patients were 3 to 22 months with mean follow-up of 13 months. In patients positive for high-risk HPV 24.00% (6/25) were found to have persistent or recurrent disease. While 30 patients negative for high-risk HPV 3.33% (1/30) were found to have persistent or recurrent disease. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HPV infection in cervical cancer patients with positive high-risk HPV after treatment by radiation or concurrent chemoradiation seems to be a risk factor for persistent and recurrent disease. Testing for high-risk HPV may be a useful modality for follow-up of these patients.