Jorge Castaño

Location and Density of Immune Cells in Precursor Lesions and Cervical Cancer.

Only a small proportion of women infected with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) develop cervical cancer. Host immune response seems to play a role eliminating the viral infection and preventing progression to cancer. Characterization of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in cervical pre-neoplastic lesions and cervical cancer may be helpful to understand the mechanisms that mediate this protection. The aim of this study was to determine if there are differences in the localization and density (cells/mm2) of CD8+ T-cells, CD4+ T-cells and Tregs (CD25 + Foxp3+) in cervical pre-neoplastic lesions and cervical cancer. Immunohistochemical analysis of sections of 96 (26 CIN1, 21 CIN2, 25 CIN3, and 24 SCC) samples revealed that regardless of CIN grades, CD8+ T-cells are more abundant than CD4+, CD25+ and Foxp3+ cells in both the stroma and epithelium. There was a higher density of CD8+ cells in the stroma of cervical cancer compared to CIN3 (OR = 4.20, 95% CI 1.2-15), CIN2 (OR = 7.86, 95% CI 1.7-36.4) and CIN1 (OR = 4.25, 95% CI 1.1-17). Studies evaluating whether these cells are recruited before or after cancer progression will be helpful to understand the role of these cells in the natural history of HPV-induced lesions.

Age-specific seroprevalence of human papillomavirus 16, 18, 31, and 58 in women of a rural town of Colombia.

Objective The study’s objective was to estimate human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype–specific seroprevalence to determine population HPV exposure and inform vaccine policy. Methods This study is a cross-sectional prevalence survey of 878 women of Pueblorrico, a rural town of Colombia. A standardized questionnaire was used to obtain information on demographic characteristics, sexual and reproductive history, and smoking habits. Seropositivity to HPV-16, -18, -31, and -58 was determined by virus-like particles in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Overall seropositivity to any HPV genotype was 27.9%. The combined seroprevalence of women 15 to 19 and 20 to 24 years old was 35.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 25.9–46.2) and 36.0% (95% CI, 27.7–45.3), respectively. Seroprevalence for HPV-16 was 17% (95% CI, 14.6–19.6); for HPV-18, 9.8% (95% CI, 8.0–11.9); for HPV-31, 11.4% (95% CI, 9.5–13.7); and for HPV 58, 12.5% (95% CI, 10.5–14.9). Higher HPV seropositivity was associated with the lifetime number of occasional sexual partners (odds ratio, 3.05; 95% CI, 1.26–7.37) and having more than 2 regular sexual partners (odds ratio, 3.00; 95% CI, 1.21–7.45) in women younger than 44 and older than 45 years old, respectively. Use of oral contraceptives and tobacco/cigarettes was significantly associated with reduced HPV seropositivity in women older than 45 but not in women younger than 44 years old. Conclusions Human papillomavirus seropositivity is associated with measures of sexual behavior, particularly a greater lifetime number of sexual partners. Hormonal and tobacco/cigarette use may be factors influencing the HPV seropositivity in women older than 45 years old.