HPV genotyping from invasive cervical cancer in Chile

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence rates of the different HPV types in cervical cancer lesions in Chile to facilitate the development of prophylactic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines effective for that country.MethodBiopsy samples of 312 cervical cancer lesions were assessed for HPV type by reverse-line blotting assay.ResultsHPV DNA was found in 94.2% of the lesions, 67.2% harboring 1 viral type and the remainder harboring more than 1 type. HPV-16 was the most frequent type in single infections (50.5%), followed by HPV-18 (7.8%), HPV-31 (2.4%), and HPV-45 (2.0%). HPV-16 was also present in 98.7% of dual and multiple infections, its most frequent association being with HPV-18.ConclusionsHPV types 16, 18, 31, and 45, alone or combined with other types, were observed in the biopsy samples of up to 80.5% of cervical cancer lesions.