Evaluation of HPV-DNA Prevalence and Genotype Distribution and Cytological Examination Results in Cervical Sample

Introduction: Cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) is the fourth most common cancer in women.In recent studies conducted for the prevention or early diagnosis of cervical cancer, it has been reported that HPV-DNA testing provides more protection than cytology, is more sensitive and cost-effective, and its use in screening programs has been recommended.This study aimed to determine HPV genotypes in cervical samples in the Izmir region and to evaluate PAP smear results. Materials and Methods:HPV-DNA results of cervical swab samples of 371 female patients (mean= 35.6) aged between 19-61 who applied to Dokuz Eyll University Medical Faculty Hospital were retrospectively examined and compared with PAP smear results.Results: HPV-DNA was detected in 150 of 371 samples (40.4%).Cytological abnormalities were also detected in 12.9% of these 150 samples, while no abnormalities were detected in 25.3%.The most common was HPV 16 (45.3%),followed by HPV 56 (17.3%),HPV 18 (12.0%)and HPV 51 (12.0%). Conclusion:Human papillomavirus prevalence and genotypes vary according to the region and group studied.In Trkiye, HPV positivity was reported between 3.2% and 80.0%.In this study, HPV-DNA positivity was 40.4%, while this rate increased to 51.6% in patients with cytological abnormalities.Only high-risk genotypes were examined in the study.While HPV 16 and 18 are most commonly encountered in the world, the following genotypes may differ.Also in our study, HPV 16 was found most frequently, followed by HPV 56, HPV 18 and HPV 51.Cytological abnormalities were detected in 25.1% of the samples and ASC-US/ASC-H (55.9%) was the most common, followed by LSIL (23.6%) and HSIL (11.7%).HPV-DNA was detected in 37% of the cases without abnormalities in the cytological examination and 56.4% of these were found to be HPV 16 and/or 18.In conclusion, this study supports that HPV 16 is the most frequently detected genotype and that the following genotypes may vary.Multicenter studies covering a large number of women are needed to reveal regional differences and to shed light on vaccine studies.In addition, the detection of high-risk HPV genotypes in samples where no pathology was detected in the study is also valuable in terms of emphasizing the importance of HPV-DNA testing in the prevention and early diagnosis of cervical cancer.