Association between human papillomavirus and endometrial adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Several studies have suggested a possible role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the pathogenesis of endometrial carcinoma. The aim of the study was to investigate the presence of HPV DNA in endometrium cancers and nonneoplastic endometrium. Sixty endometrial adenocarcinomas with and without squamous differentiation and the nonneoplastic endometrium tissue of fifty-six of the same patients were analyzed for the presence of family 16 and family 6 HPV DNA by using chromogenic in situ hybridization technique on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded archival samples, and the results were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction method. HPV DNA was not detected either in the endometrial adenocarcinoma with or without squamous differentiation, or in the nonneoplastic endometrium tissue. It appears that HPV does not play any role in the pathogenesis of endometrial carcinoma, since endometrium may not to be a suitable host for HPV replication.