HPV Genomic Status in Early Cervical Cancer and Its Prognosis Association

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Virology
• Genomics

Background:

• Early cervical cancer (ECC) prognosis is crucial for treatment decisions.
• Understanding Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) genomic status can refine prognostic accuracy.
• Current methods may not fully characterize HPV's interaction with the host genome.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify specific HPV genomic status in ECC using HPV capture and next-generation sequencing (NGS).
• To correlate determined HPV genomic status with patient prognosis based on 2018 FIGO stages.
• To investigate HPV integration events and their relationship with oncogenes and patient outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study of 34 ECC tumor samples without lymph node metastasis.
• HPV capture technique coupled with NGS for precise HPV genome sequencing.
• Analysis using an in-house VIROCAPT2 pipeline to determine HPV integration status and location.

Main Results:

• HPV16 was the most common genotype (60%) in ECC.
• HPV integration was detected in 40% of samples and correlated with HPV genotype (p=0.0005).
• HPV integration, especially within oncogenes, strongly correlated with poorer progression-free survival (p=0.0035) and adverse outcomes.

Conclusions:

• HPV genomic status, particularly integration, serves as a significant prognostic factor in early cervical cancer.
• HPV integration is linked to poor patient outcomes, including increased progression and mortality.
• Further research is needed to validate HPV genomic profiling for risk stratification and treatment guidance in ECC.