Human Papillomavirus, Cytomegalovirus Infection and P16 Staining in Breast Tumors from Peruvian Women

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

1 Department of Breast Surgery, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas, Lima, Peru.

2 Department of Medical Oncology, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas, Lima, Peru.

3 Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Cientifica del Sur, Lima, Peru.

4 Department of Research, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas, Lima, Peru.

5 Department of Pathology, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas, Lima, Peru.

6 Department of Health Promotion and Prevention, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas, Lima, Peru.

7 Laboratory of Oncovirology, Virology Program, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBM), University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the frequency distribution of viral infections in Peruvian Breast Cancer (BC) lesions and its association with clinicopathological features. Additionally, a prospective evaluation of p16 and Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) levels were performed for developing a comprehensive analysis. Methods: Detection of high risk- human papillomavirus (HR- HPV) through qPCR was performed in 447 BC and 79 non-cancer frozen samples. Paired paraffin samples from 238 BC were stained with Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and p16 immunohistochemistry. TIL was calculated in 397 BC cases. Results: HCMV was positive in 72.5%. HR- HPV was detected in 2.9% of BC and 1.3% of non-malignant samples. P16+ was found in 28.15% and median TIL percentage was 30. HR- HPV infection was associated with non-ductal histology (p=0.003) and p16+ (p=0.017). Positive P16+ was associated with higher T stage (p=0.022), grade (p=0.009), TIL level (p=0.002), and triple-negative phenotype (p=0.021). Conclusion: HCMV is frequent, but HR- HPV infection is unusual in Peruvian BC. P16+ is associated with HR- PVH infection, high TIL and aggressive features.

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