title: Human papillomavirus genotypes in invasive cervical squamous cell carcinoma in Trinidad.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the relative contribution of known high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes to the occurrence of cervical cancers in Trinidad.
  
  
  METHODS
  The distribution of HPV genotypes in cases of invasive cervical squamous cell carcinoma in Trinidad was investigated. This study was a follow-up to an investigation of HPV genotypes in 310 nonsymptomatic women in Trinidad. The latter study showed that cervical HPV prevalence and heterogeneity of genotypes were high in the study population; notably, the genotypes targeted by the available HPV prophylactic vaccines were not the most common types.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The current study of 85 cases of invasive cervical squamous cell carcinomas demonstrated that the previously observed heterogeneity in HPV genotype distribution is lost in cases of invasive cervical cancer, with the vaccine-targeted HPV types HPV 16 and HPV 18 becoming the most prevalent.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HPV 16 and HPV 18 were the primary HPV genotypes associated with cases of invasive squamous cell carcinoma in the current Trinidad study. This strong association leads us to conclude that the HPV vaccines targeting HPV 16 and HPV 18 may contribute to reducing the cervical cancer burden in Trinidad.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. hosein.felicia@gmail.com
authors.forename: Felicia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hosein
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mohammed
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zubach
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Legall
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Severini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014300:Trinidad and Tobago; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*