A preliminary study on the relationship between Trichomonas vaginalis and cervical cancer in Egyptian women

The relationship between Trichomonas vaginalis and cancer cervix was investigated by detection of T. vaginalis antibodies, in the sera of 48 invasive cervical cancer patients and 100 random age matched female control, using western immunoblot technique. It was found that antibodies to T. vaginalis were detected in sera of 18.75% (9/48) of cervical cancer patients compared with 5% (5/100) of controls. The increase was evident in age group, 40-49 years (21.05% vs 5%) and of those with squamous cell carcinoma (6/9) and mainly with grade II & III. All the reactive sera of invasive cancer patients reacted strongly with T. vaginalis surface antigen of about (109.9, 86.1, 56.2, 48.2 and 30 Kda). So, there may be an association between T. vaginalis and the risk of cervical cancer, as there was more than 3 fold increase in the prevalence of T. vaginalis antibodies in patients with invasive cervical cancer compared to age matched female controls. This study highlights the importance of clinically detection of T. vaginalis infection, which is one of the group of factors involved in the genesis and progression of cervical cancer. In addition, its treatment would aid in restricting the rising incidence of this dreaded disease.