Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: We herein evaluated whether intra-tissue HPV viral load may constitute a triage biomarker to differentiate between high-grade precancerous cervical lesions from intra cervical cancer (ICC). METHODS: 50 biopsy samples prospectively obtained from women living in Mauritania suffering from high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2/3), adenocarcinoma (ADC) or squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) were analysed for HPV genotyping and quantitation carried out using Bioperfectus Multiplex Real Time Human Papillomavirus Genotyping Real Time PCR assay. RESULTS: HPV-positive results were detected in 47 biopsies (12 CIN2/3 and 35 ICC, including 4 ADC and 31 SCC). The cumulative HPV viral loads of any HPV and high risk-HPV (HR-HPV) in ICC were significantly higher than those in CIN2/3 (p < 0.002 for any HPV; 0.02 for HR-HPV). The cumulative viral loads of any HPV and HR-HPV possessed a good discriminatory ability to differentiate between CIN2/3 and ICC, with optimal cutoffs ranging from 4.38 (any HPV) to 4.85 (HR-HPV) copies per 10,000 cells. CONCLUSION: Our observations show that cumulative HPV viral load in cervical tissue may constitute a relevant biomarker associated with the severity of HPV-related cervical lesions. HPV viral load in cervical tissue could be used as a triage tool for aggressive ICC in advanced cervical lesions.