The prevalence of human papillomavirus in ovarian cancer: a systematic review.
OBJECTIVE
We performed a systematic review and a meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in ovarian cancer.


METHODS
A comprehensive search of the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, CANCERLIT, LILACS, Grey literature and EMBASE was performed for articles published from January 1990 to March 2012. The following MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms were searched: "ovarian tumor" or "ovarian cancers" and "HPV" or "human papillomavirus." Included were case-control and cross-sectional studies, prospective or retrospective, that evaluated clinical ovarian cancer and provided a clear description of the use of in situ hybridization, Southern blot hybridization, and polymerase chain reaction. The statistical analysis was performed using REVMAN 5.0.


RESULTS
In total, 24 primary studies were included in this meta-analysis. Studies from 11 countries on 3 continents contained data on HPV and ovarian cancer, including 889 subjects. Overall, the HPV prevalence in patients with ovarian cancer was 17.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.0%-20.0%). Human papillomavirus prevalence ranged from 4.0% (95% CI, 1.7%-6.3%) in Europe to 31.4% (95% CI, 26.9%-35.9%) in Asia. An aggregate of 4 case-control studies from Asia showed an odds ratio of 2.48 (95% CI, 0.64-9.57).


CONCLUSIONS
We found a high prevalence of HPV-positive DNA in ovarian cancer cases, but the role of HPV in ovarian cancer remains inconclusive. Further studies are needed to control case to answer this question.
Laboratory of Epidemiology and National Institute for Translational Medicine of University of Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciúma, Santa Catarina, Brazil. mir@unesc.net
Maria Inês
MI
Rosa
Geraldo Doneda
GD
Silva
Priscyla Waleska Targino
PW
de Azedo Simões
Meriene Viquetti
MV
Souza
Ana Paula Ronzani
AP
Panatto
Carla Sasso
CS
Simon
Kristian
K
Madeira
Lidia Rossi
LR
Medeiros
D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology*; D027383:Papillomaviridae; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*