Human papillomavirus genotypes in cervical cancer with different histological features

We report the case of a 32-year-old woman having developed two cervical cancers synchronously, an adenocarcinoma and a squamous cell carcinoma. Polymerase chain reaction with the general primers GP5/GP6 and a subsequent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect human papillomaviruses (HPV) resulted in isolation of HPV 33 in the squamous cell carcinoma and HPV 18 in the adenocarcinoma. This is the first reported case of two histologically different synchronous cervical cancers with this distinct HPV expression pattern, and further confirms the association of certain 'high-risk' HPV genotypes to different histological features of carcinoma. Furthermore, the important role of microdissection for gaining tumor tissue of different areas in molecular diagnostics is supported.