Geographical distribution of HPV Genotypes and their association with Socio-demographic and Clinicopathological parameters among Normal, Pre-cancer and Cervical Cancer women in Chennai, India: A Cross-sectional study

Carcinoma of uterine cervix is a major worldwide wellness problem. Chronic infection with high-risk Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a major risk factor for the onset of invasive cervical cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate the HPV genotype distribution and its correlation with the socio demographic and clinic pathological features among healthy, cervical pre-cancer and cancer women in a defined region of Chennai, Tamilnadu, India. 160 cervical specimens consisting of 41 Squamous cell carcinoma(SCC), 4 Adenocarcinoma(AC), 35 precancerous lesions (LSIL/HSIL) and 80 samples from normal women were selected to perform detection and genotyping of high-risk HPV using PCR. Out of 160 women, 80(50%) had normal Pap smear, 35(21.8%) had Precancerous lesions and 45(28.1%) had invasive cervical carcinoma. Among 80 women with abnormal cytology of cervix, HPV was found in 78 (97.5%) subjects. The predominant strains of HPV were HPV16 (41.02%) and HPV18 (38.4%). Several research investigations conducted in diverse geographical locations across India have demonstrated considerable variations in the frequency of infections caused by HPV and its genotype diversity. The present research provides a recent valuable baseline data regarding HPV distribution in this studied group.