HPV genotyping: need of the hour for cervical cancer screening

Objectives: Cervical cancer is the most common cancer and leading cause of cancer deaths in women in developing countries. India shares about one-fourth of the global burden of cervical cancer and almost all cases harbour high risk Humanpapilloma virus (HPV) infection. This is a unique cancer in the sense that it is totally attributable to the effects of an infectious virus. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the distribution of HPV genotypes in a rural area of Punjab, with the aim of identifying the most frequent HPV genotypes associated with different cervical lesions in this population. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted over a period of two years i.e. from January2013 to January 2015, on women attending obstetrics and gynaecology department of a tertiary care hospital. One hundred sixty consecutive scrape samples or cervical brushings were collected from women presenting with any type of cervical lesions. DNA was extracted from the clinical sample using Hybribio DNA extraction kit. Hybribio HPV genoarray test kit was used to genotype the HPV risk groups. Results: Out of 160 cervical brushings collected over a period of two years, 17 (10.6%) were positive for HPV genotypes. Among the latter, HPV18 genotype was observed in 7(41.17%), HPV16 genotype in 3 (17.65%) and HPV53 genotype in 2(11.76%). One of the genotypes 68, 52, 39, 33 and 15 were present in rest of the samples. Conclusion: HPV genotypes 18 followed by 16 were the most common genotypes found in the present study. HPV vaccination along with HPV based screening may go a long way in controlling cervical cancer in India. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2016;6(4): 168-171