Herpes simplex virus type 2 and human papillomavirus type 16 in cervicitis, dysplasia and invasive cervical carcinoma

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Abstract
Sera and biopsies of cervical lesions from 55 women with benign or malignant disease were analyzed for evidence of infection with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) or human papillomavirus (HPV). In addition, information regarding known risk factors for cervical cancer was obtained by interview. The sera were tested for HSV-2 antibodies and the biopsies were tested for HPV or HSV DNA sequences by Southern blot hybridization. HSV-2 sequences were detected in 2/13 (15%) invasive neoplasms and in 1/12 (7%) benign lesions. Under non-stringent conditions of hybridization, reactions with HPV DNA were detected in biopsies of 2/17 (12%) inflammatory lesions, 6/12 (50%) intraepithelial neoplasms and 13/20 (65%) invasive neoplasms. All but one of the positive biopsies of invasive cancer, but only 4/11 biopsies of non-invasive lesions, contained HPV-16 DNA as determined by stringent hybridization conditions. Women with cervical cancer possessed the risk factors associated with the disease. Cigarette smoking and the presence of HPV-16 DNA were the most prominent risk factors. No evidence of an interaction between HSV-2 and HPV-16 was found among the cases of invasive cervical cancer.