HPV-16 variants' impact on uterine cervical cancer response to radiotherapy: A descriptive pilot study

Although the large impact of Human papilloma virus (HPV) in cervical cancer is established, its place as a therapeutic target is new and according to the growing literature, could be promising. In the present study, radiosensitivity's difference based on HPV-16 variants is assessed.

Variants of Human papilloma virus were identified before the exclusive radiotherapy in patients with cervical cancer. Data were prospectively collected. Fifty-nine patients were screened.

Among the 59 screened patients, 34 (57.6%) were identified to be HPV-16 (+), with 13 European and two non-European variants. Of the 34 patients, 15 experienced exclusive radiotherapy. Among them, eight had complete response (seven with European and one with non-European variants), four with European variant had partial response, three with European variant had tumour persistence and one with non-European variant progressed at 3 months.

No radiosensitivity difference was established, probably because of the limited population. Non-European variant aggressiveness might be suggested in accordance with the literature, as it was associated with the only tumour progression. Exclusive radiotherapy provides a unique and "pure" model of radioresistance in cervical cancer and could be the missing link between in vitro studies and state of the art chemoradiotherapy studies that probably feature too many parameters to identify radioresistance causes. The present study was a first step, with the future prospects of building a larger cohort study in order to better understand HPV-induced radioresistance and then to be able to propose new made-to-measure treatments.