A cross-sectional study of human papillomavirus genotype distribution and integration status in penile cancer among Chinese population

Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been recognized as an important risk factor in penile cancer. This study aimed to investigate the HPV subtypes and integration status in Chinese patients. Samples were collected from 103 penile cancer patients aged 24-90 years between 2013 and 2019. We found that HPV infection rate was 72.8%, with 28.0% integration. The aging patients were more susceptible to HPV (p = 0.009). HPV16 was the most frequent subtype observed (52/75) and exhibited the highest frequency of integration events, with 11 out of 30 single infection cases showing integration positive. The HPV integrations sites in the viral genome were not randomly distributed, the breakpoints were enriched in the E1 gene (p = 0.006) but relatively scarce in L1, E6 and E7. Our research might provide some clues how HPV leads to the progression of penile cancer.

Prevalence of genital HPV infection in STI and healthy populations and risk factors for viral persistence

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a well-established carcinogenic agent. This study aimed to assess prevalence and persistence rate of genital HPV infection in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) patients and healthy subjects. The risk factors influencing the persistence of genital HPV infection were also investigated. The samples were collected with the ThinPrep liquid-based cytology system. Among the HPV-positive patients, those consenting were retested after 12 months. Overall, 145/292 subjects proved HPV positive with a higher prevalence (51%) in STI than in healthy population (43%). The persistence of genital HPV infection was statistically associated with female gender, HR-HPV infection, smoking, and Ureaplasma parvum infection.

Evaluation of human papillomavirus DNA detection in samples obtained for routine Chlamydia trachomatis screening

BACKGROUND

The costs and logistics involved in obtaining samples is a bottleneck in large-scale studies of the circulation of human papillomavirus (HPV), which are useful for monitoring and optimisation of HPV-vaccination programs. Residual samples obtained after screening for Chlamydia trachomatis could constitute a convenient, low-cost solution.

OBJECTIVES

We evaluated HPV DNA detection and typing using (i) the residual samples routinely taken for C. trachomatis screening or (ii) the sample types used in large-scale phase III HPV vaccination trials (cervical, vulvar, labial, perineal, perianal, scrotal and penile shaft samples).

STUDY DESIGN

Samples from 127 men and 110 women attending two sexual health clinics were analysed using PCR for HPV DNA, with typing using mass spectrometry.

RESULTS

The HPV DNA prevalence was 7.1% in male urine samples, but 57.3% in female urine/vaginal samples, which was even higher than the HPV prevalence found in cervical samples (54.1%). The sensitivity for HPV DNA detection in the urine/vaginal samples was 7.9% (95% CI 3.0-16.4) for men and 78.9% (95% CI 67.6-87.7) for women, using detection in any one of the reference samples as reference. With cervical samples as reference, the sensitivity was 89.3 % (95% CI 78.1-95.9).

CONCLUSIONS

Among men, low sensitivity of urine for HPV detection suggests limited usefulness. Among women, the high sensitivity of urine/vaginal samples for HPV detection suggests a useful low-cost solution for the study of HPV epidemiology.