Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a major cause of cervical cancer. More than 100 HPV genotypes have beenidentified; however the distribution varies geographically and according to ethnicity. The purpose of this studywas to investigate the prevalence and distribution of HPV subtypes among Northeast Thai women. Subjectsincluded 198 cases of SCCA and 198 age-matched, healthy controls. HPV-DNA was amplified by PCR using theconsensus primers GP5+/6+ system followed by reverse line blot hybridization genotyping. The prevalence ofhigh-risk HPV infection was 21 (10.1%) and 152 (76.8%) in the controls and in the cases, respectively. High-riskHPV significantly increased the risk for cervical cancer with an OR of 42.4 (95%CI: 22.4-81.4, p<0.001) and anadjusted OR of 40.7-fold (95%CI: 21.5-76.8, p <0.001). HPV-16 was the most prevalent HPV type in the SCCA(56.2%) followed by HPV-58 (17.8%) and HPV-18 (13.6%); whereas HPV-58 (46.4%) was a prominent genotypein the controls followed by HPV-16 (39.3%) and unidentified HPV types (25.0%). These findings indicate thatHPV infection remains a critical risk factor for SCCA; particularly, HPV-16, HPV-58 and HPV-18. In orderto eradicate cervical cancer, sustained health education, promoted use of prophylactics and a HPV-58 vaccineshould be introduced in this region.
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