title: Persistent papillomavirus type-31 and type-45 infections predict the progression to squamous intraepithelial lesion.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been recognized as the major etiologic agent of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. However, it has been demonstrated that HPV infection is usually a self-limited process and does not lead to significant epithelial lesions or cancer. Recent data indicate that persistent high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) infections have a significantly increased risk of developing incident high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer. Our aim, therefore, was to assess whether there exist HPV genotypes whose persistence can be considered powerful surrogates of a progressive disease. We retrospectively selected all patients with a negative cytological diagnosis or with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, with a positive test for HR-HPV, different from HPV types 16 and 18, and assessed the significance of the risk of progression based on the persistence of the specific HR-HPV.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively queried the database of our Colposcopy Clinic for all patients with a negative cytological diagnosis or with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance and a positive test for HR-HPV, and we calculated the incidence of progression to lesions greater than or equal to low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions after 6 months, according to the HPV type.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A progression rate of 48.27% was found in patients tested positive for HPV-31 (Group 1), 38.46% in patients tested positive for HPV-45 (Group 2), and 5.73% in patients tested positive for HPV types other than HPV-16, HPV-18, HPV-31, and HPV-45 (Group 3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data demonstrate that the persistence of HPV-31 and HPV-45 is strongly associated with the occurrence of squamous intraepithelial lesion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Second University of Studies of Naples, Naples, Italy. Electronic address: mariateresa.sche@libero.it.
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Schettino
authors.affiliation: Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Second University of Studies of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco Pietro
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Ammaturo
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Second University of Study of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grimaldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Second University of Studies of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonietta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Legnante
authors.affiliation: Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Second University of Studies of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Azalea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marcello
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Second University of Study of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Donnarumma
authors.affiliation: Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Second University of Studies of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Colacurci
authors.affiliation: Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Second University of Studies of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Torella
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D052162:Human papillomavirus 16 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D052161:Human papillomavirus 18 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D058952:Human papillomavirus 31 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D065310:Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions of the Cervix / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*
keywords: high-risk human papillomavirus; human papillomavirus infection; squamous intraepithelial lesion