Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 21, 2026

RNAscope for In situ Detection of Transcriptionally Active Human Papillomavirus in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: March 11, 2014
HPV16 Sublineage Associations With Histology-Specific Cancer Risk Using HPV Whole-Genome Sequences in 3200 Women
Lisa Mirabello1, Meredith Yeager2, Michael Cullen2
1Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD (LM, MY, MC, JFB, NW, XZ, KY, QY, JM, DR, SB, LB, YX, MS); Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, MD (MY, MC, JFB, XZ, QY, JM, DR, SB, LB); Department of Microbiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (ZC); Women's Health Research Institute, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland CA (TRB); Regional Laboratory, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA (TL); Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY (PEC, RDB); Departments of Pediatrics; Microbiology & Immunology; and, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY (RDB) mirabellol@mail.nih.gov.
Background:
HPV16 is a common sexually transmitted infection although few infections lead to cervical precancer/cancer; we cannot distinguish nor mechanistically explain why only certain infections progress. HPV16 can be classified into four main evolutionary-derived variant lineages (A, B, C, D) that have been previously suggested to have varying disease risks.
Methods:
We used a high-throughput HPV16 whole-genome sequencing assay to investigate variant lineage risk among 3215 HPV16-infected women. Using sublineages A1/A2 as the reference, we assessed all variant lineage associations with infection outcome over three or more years of follow-up: 1107 control subjects (
Results:
A4 sublineage was associated with an increased risk of cancer, specifically adenocarcinoma (OR = 9.81, 95% CI = 2.02 to 47.69, P = 4.7x10(-03)). Lineage B had a lower risk of CIN3 (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0. 28 to 0.91, P = 02) while lineage C showed increased risk (OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.09 to 3.89, P = 03). D2/D3 sublineages were strongly associated with an increased risk of CIN3 and cancer, particularly D2 (OR for cancer = 28.48, 95% CI = 9.27 to 87.55, P = 5.0x10(-09)). D2 had the strongest increased risk of glandular lesions, AIS (OR = 29.22, 95% CI = 8.94 to 95.51, P = 2.3x10(-08)), and adenocarcinomas (OR = 137.34, 95% CI = 37.21 to 506.88, P = 1.5x10(-13)). Moreover, the risk of precancer and cancer for specific variant lineages varied by a women's race/ethnicity; those women whose race/ethnicity matched that of the infecting HPV16 variant had an increased risk of CIN3 + (P < 001).
Conclusions:
Specific HPV16 variant sublineages strongly influence risk of histologic types of precancer and cancer, and viral genetic variation may help explain its unique carcinogenic properties.
More Related Videos
06:57Chromogenic In Situ Hybridization as a Tool for HPV-Related Head and Neck Cancer Diagnosis
Published on: June 14, 2019
07:43Four-color Fluorescence Immunohistochemistry of T-cell Subpopulations in Archival Formalin-fixed, Paraffin-embedded Human Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Samples
Published on: July 29, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes