Prevalence of human papillomavirus type 16 DNA in cervical carcinoma samples in East Anglia

A substantial increase in the incidence of severely dysplastic cervical lesions (CIN 3) has been observed during the period 1975-1982 in the East Anglian region of England. Since patients with severe dysplasia have an enhanced risk of developing cervical carcinoma, it seems possible that a substantial increase in the rate of cervical carcinoma is likely to occur in the near future. Evidence of a relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical carcinoma has accumulated recently. We have studied the incidence of HPV16 DNA in cervical tissue samples from patients with cervical carcinoma, severe dysplasias and normal controls. Five out of 11 invasive squamous carcinomas of the cervix, 3/4 dysplasias and 0/12 normal samples were positive in Southern blot assays for HPV16 DNA. Some of the tissue samples had as many as 500 copies of HPV16 DNA per cell. The amount of HPV16 DNA present correlated with the aggressiveness of tumour growth.