Introduction/Background Studies have shown that high-risk HPV plays an important role in tumorigenesis. However, the significance of HPV type in the prediction of treatment outcomes of cervical cancer patients is still controversial. This study was designed to evaluate the prognostic value of pre-treatment HPV DNA in correlation to long-term survival.

Methodology 191 cervical cancer patients from October 2009 to December 2013 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University were randomly assigned into radiochemotherapy (RCT) and radiochemotherapy plus hyperthermia (RHCT) therapeutic modalities in this study. The prevalent high risk types of HPV 16, 18, 58 were detected by type specific in situ hybridization (ISH) with paraffin section of 191 cervical cancer patients.

Results The prevalence of HPV 16, 18 and 58 were 94.2% (95% CI=90.60–97.40), 71.2% (95% CI=64.40–77.50) and 62.30%. (95% CI=55.50–69.10), respectively. The prevalence of HPV 16/18 double positive, HPV 16/58 double positive and HPV 16/18/58 trible positive were 24.60% (95% CI=18.80–30.90), 15.20% (95% CI=10.50–20.40) and 45.00% (95% CI=37.70–52.30), respectively. Only 2.60% (95% CI=0.50–5.20) of the cervical tissue specimens showe no HPV detection. Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that patients with HPV 16/18 double positive, HPV 16/18/58 three positive showed worse survival than other groups, although the results were not statistically significant (P=0.285). While the patients were divided into HPV18-positive and negative group, we found that HPV18-negative patients were associated with better survival(P=0.034, HR=2.174).

Conclusion HPV 16 is the most common type in cervical cancer patients in Shaanxi, China. HPV 18 may be a strong independent prognostic factor and associated with relatively poor survival prognosis. However, larger sample sizes and more comprehensive studies are required to verify our findings.

Disclosure The authors declare no conflicts of interest.