Herpes simplex virus type 2 and human cervical cancer: relationship between cellular and immune assays for the detection of previous infection.
Women with invasive carcinoma of the cervix were examined for evidence of previous infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 (HSV-2) by three assays: Assay 1 measured the ratio of lymphocyte blastogenesis to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2 antigens; assay 2 measured the ratio of antibody titer to surface antigens of HSV-1-infected and HSV-2-infected cells; assay 3 measured the titer of type-specific antibody to HSV-1 and HSV-2, including the percentage of HSV-2 type-specific to total HSV antibody. The ability of assays to detect previous infection was evaluated with the use of groups with histories of infection with HSV-1, HSV-2, or both. Women with invasive cervical cancer were matched to control women by age (+/- 3 yr), race (black), and socioeconomic class (low). All assays detected similar patterns of previous HSV-2 infection, and all indicated a higher frequency of previous HSV-2 infection in women having cervical cancer. Results from assays 1 and 2 suggest that many of the cancer patients and controls also had been infected with HSV-1. The more definitive type-specific antibody assay confirmed those results and showed that sera from 85% of women having cervical cancer and from 100% of the matched controls contained antibody type-specific for HSV-1.
D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D005260:Female; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral