Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2025
Author Spotlight: Advancing Prostate Cancer Research Through Improved Tissue Sampling and Biobanking
Published on: November 17, 2023
Presence of HPV in prostate tissue from patients submitted to prostate biopsy
Nalisson Marques Pereira1, Emerson Augusto Castilho Martins2, Mateus Goes Quintela3
1MSc, associate professor. Universidade Federal do Amapá - Department of Medicine - Macapá (AP), Brazil.
Purpose:
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequent cancer among men in the Western population. Infections, such as the one caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), have been shown to promote inflammation that can lead to the appearance of neoplasms. This study aimed to verify the presence of HPV in neoplastic and non-neoplastic prostate tissue in patients undergoing prostate biopsy and its possible relationship with PCa.
Methods:
Prostate tissue fragments were collected by prostate biopsy and subjected to polymerase chain reaction with primers for the HPV L1 gene to identify the presence of the virus.
Results:
Among 162 patients, 10 (6.2%) had HPV and in 152 (93.8%) HPV was not identified in prostate biopsies. HPV was detected in 7/95 (7.4%) of patients with PCa, in 2/55 (3.6%) of patients without PCa, and in no patient with an inconclusive diagnosis of PCa. There was no significant difference (p = 0.487) of HPV presence in the tissue of patients with PCa.
Conclusions:
There were no significant levels of HPV L1 protein in prostate tissue. The findings suggest the absence of HPV oncogenic activity in the prostate tissue of patients with PCa.
