Human Papillomavirus 16 Lineage D is Associated with High Risk of Cervical Cancer in the Brazilian Northeast Region.

Objective:  Similar to Human Papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes, different lineages of a genotype also have different carcinogenic capabilities. Studies have shown that specific genotype lineages of oncogenic HPV are associated with variable risks for the development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2/CIN3) and cervical cancer. The present study aimed to analyze the genetic diversity of the HPV16 genotype in women with CIN2/CIN3 and cervical cancer, from the northeast region of Brazil.

Methods:  A cross-sectional multicenter study was conducted in the northeast region of Brazil, from 2014 to 2016. This study included 196 cases of HPV16 variants (59 and 137 cases of CIN2/CIN3 and cervical cancer, respectively). The difference of proportion test was used to compare patients with CIN2/CIN3 and cervical cancer, based on the prevalent HPV16 lineage ( < 0.05).

Results:  According to the histopathological diagnosis, the percentage of lineage frequencies revealed a marginal difference in the prevalence of lineage A in CIN2/CIN3, compared with that in cervical cancer ( = 0.053). For lineage D, the proportion was higher in cancer cases (32.8%), than in CIN2/CIN3 cases (16.9%), with  = 0.023.

Conclusion:  HPV16 lineage A was the most frequent lineage in both CIN2/CIN3 and cervical cancer samples, while lineage D was predominant in cervical cancer, suggesting a possible association between HPV16 lineage D and cervical cancer.