High-risk HPV genotypes and cervical lesions association in postmenopausal women

Background Persistent infection by high-risk Human Papillomavirus (hrHPV) are the major cause of cervical cancer. Studies report disparities in the incidence of infection and the various genotypes of this virus in different age groups, suggesting a higher frequency of hrHPV in young women and low-risk subtypes being predominant in older women. This study aimed to investigate the incidence and distribution of hrHPV genotypes in postmenopausal women as well as the correlation with the cytological findings. Methods 16 859 women, aged 50–64 years, performed cervical cancer screening test in Friuri Venezia Giulia region, Italy. The infection was evaluated by the Polymerase Chain Reaction methodology and the positive samples were evaluated by Liquid Based Cytology according to the Bethesda System from 2014. A statistical analysis was performed to study the molecular and cytological data of this population. Results hrHPV infection were found in 5.8% of the women and 78.3% of these were caused by hrHPV other than HPV16 and HPV18 (). Also, 65.7% of the positive samples were negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy while low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion was the most frequent (22.4%). There was an increase in the number of high-grade intraepithelial lesions in the presence of HPV16 compared to that recorded when this genotype was absent (20.8% vs. 8.5%). No cervical cancers were detected. Conclusions Infection with hrHPV is uncommon in postmenopausal women and it is mostly caused by subtypes less associated with the development of cervical cancer. Yet, HPV16 infection triggers the development of high-grade lesions.