Human papillomavirus in high-grade cervical lesions: Austrian data of a European multicentre study.

Background: The purpose is to present the Austrian data of an observational, cross-sectional, multicentre study conducted in 13 European countries. This study was undertaken to assess human papillomavirus (HPV) type distribution in high-grade cervical lesions.

Methods: Two hundred and ninety cases of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2, CIN3) or adenocarcinoma in situ of the cervix from 2004 to 2007 were analysed by histopathological review and polymerase chain reaction for HPV.

Results: Two hundred and nine cases were "histologically eligible" and of those 206 were HPV+. Median age was 34 years (19-76 years). CIN3 was the most frequent diagnosis (64.6 %), followed by CIN2/3 (19.4 %) and CIN2 (13.6 %). Adenocarcinoma in situ was only detected together with a squamous lesion in 2.4 % cases. Majority of women (75.2 %) were infected with a single HPV type, 98.1 % of them with high-risk HPV types: HPV 16 (56.1 %), HPV 33 (12.3 %), HPV 31 (11.0 %), HPV 18 (3.9 %), HPV 35 (3.9 %), HPV 51 (3.2 %) and HPV 52 (2.6 %), HPV 58 (1.9 %) and HPV 45 (0.6 %). The low-risk HPV 6 was found in 1.3 % cases. Forty-six lesions (22.3 %) contained multiple infections, 71.1 % of those were HPV 16 or 18 and 91.1 % were HPV 16, 18, 31, 33 or 45 positive.

Conclusions: These Austrian data clearly demonstrate that HPV 16 is the predominant type in high-grade CIN, the immediate precursor lesions of cervical cancer. More than 60 % of the lesions were associated with HPV 16 and 18 and more than 85 % with HPV 16, 18, 31, 33 or 45. The prevalence of adenocarcinoma in situ is underestimated, since its detection is difficult with the current cytology screening.