Surasak Wanram

The use of viral load as a surrogate marker in predicting disease progression for patients with early invasive cervical cancer with integrated human papillomavirus type 16.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the use of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) physical status and viral load in combination to predict clinical outcome during cervical development. STUDY DESIGN A follow-up study was monitored in association with HPV integration and viral load in 121 cervical samples with the use of multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS A significant increase of viral load was found earlier from preinvasive to invasive groups compared with normal groups, except with clinical staging and clinical outcome. High occurrence of integrated HPV16 was observed in preinvasive (27/44 samples) and invasive cervical carcinoma (40/68 samples). Cervical progression was observed significantly in most preinvasive (18/27 samples) and invasive cases (25/40 samples) that were infected with integrated HPV. Integrated HPV16 with significant viral load can be used as a predictive marker for tumor progression in the early stage of invasive cervical carcinoma. CONCLUSION Integrated HPV16 in combination with viral load is a predictive indicator for tumor progression in early invasive stage but not in preinvasive and advanced invasive stage.