Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence rates of the different HPV types in cervical cancer lesions in Chile to facilitate the development of prophylactic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines effective for that country. Method: Biopsy samples of 312 cervical cancer lesions were assessed for HPV type by reverse-line blotting assay. Results: HPV DNA was found in 94.2% of the lesions, 67.2% harboring 1 viral type and the remainder harboring more than 1 type. HPV-16 was the most frequent type in single infections (50.5%), followed by HPV-18 (7.8%), HPV-31 (2.4%), and HPV-45 (2.0%). HPV-16 was also present in 98.7% of dual and multiple infections, its most frequent association being with HPV-18. Conclusions: HPV types 16, 18, 31, and 45, alone or combined with other types, were observed in the biopsy samples of up to 80.5% of cervical cancer lesions. © 2008 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.