RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of human papilloma virus (HPV) types 16 and 18 in squamous carcinomas of the cervix in Sri Lanka. DESIGN: Case control study. SETTING: One gynaecological unit at the Cancer Institute, Maharagama, Sri Lanka. PATIENTS: 15 patients with squamous carcinoma of the cervix, and 15 age matched controls with histologically normal cervices. MEASUREMENTS: DNA was extracted from paraffin embedded cervical biopsies. Polymerase chain reaction was performed on extracted DNA employing primers specific for HPV types 16 and 18. RESULTS: HPV 16 DNA was detected in 11 out of 15 cervical cancer biopsies (73.3%), in comparison with 3 out of 15 normal controls (20%). HPV 18 was detected in 3 out of 15 cervical cancer biopsies, but not in a single control biopsy. CONCLUSION: Despite the limited number of cases in this cohort, this study supports the strong association between HPV 16 and squamous cancer of the cervix.