To obtain information on the incidence and the clinical significance of infection with various types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) in cancer of the uterine cervix, we retrospectively examined the HPV status of 106 patients who had received radical radiotherapy for cervical cancer stages IB to IIIB. DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffinembedded biopsies and PCR was carried out to identify HPV types 16, 18, 31, 35, 33 and 45. To detect additional HPV types, consensus PCR products were cloned and sequenced. A catalyzed signal-amplified colorimetric in situ hybridization was carried out in 84 of 106 specimens as a positive control. Response to therapy, progression-free survival (PFS) and cervical cancer-specific survival (CCSS) were the statistical endpoints. Survival analysis was carried out using univariate and multivariate analysis (Cox regression). Ninety-six patients (90.6%) were HPV-positive and 42/96 (43.7%) were positive for multiple HPV types. Eight patients had persistent disease after radiotherapy. From these 8 patients, 7 were infected with multiple HPV types and only 1 patient had an infection with a single HPV type. After a median follow up period of 50 months, patients with multiple HPV infection had a significantly shorter PFS and CCSS compared to those with single HPV infection (24.8% and 34.9% vs. 64% and 60.8%, Log rank, p < 0.01 and 0.04). In multivariate analysis, the presence of multiple HPV types (RR 1.9), node status (RR 2.3), tumor size (RR 3.2) and histologic type (RR 4.8) were independent prognostic factors of CCSS. Our results demonstrate that the presence of multiple HPV types is associated with poor response and with reduced survival in cervical cancer patients who receive radiotherapy as the primary treatment.

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The purpose of our study was to determine if frozen-section diagnosis accurately identified patients suffering from endometrial adenocarcinoma FIGO stage I for surgical staging consisting of total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, peritoneal cytology, and complete bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy in moderately differentiated tumors with myometrial invasion. In all poorly differentiated tumors, and in all tumors with deep myometrial invasion (more than 50%) surgical staging included additional para-aortic lymphadenectomy. We performed a retrospective study including 70 patients. Frozen-section diagnosis of myometrial invasion and tumor grade was compared with permanent-section diagnosis. The accuracy rates were determined, and compared with accuracy rates of frozen-section diagnosis in the literature, and a total accuracy rate for 624 patients suffering from stage I endometrial adenocarcinoma was evaluated. In our patient collective, the overall accuracy rate of frozen-section diagnosis for myometrial invasion and tumor grade was 80 and 84%, respectively. In the five comparable studies, the mean accuracy rate for myometrial invasion and tumor grade was 89 and 84%, respectively. In combination with the five comparable studies our recent study produced an accuracy rate of frozen-section diagnosis for myometrial invasion and tumor grade of 88 and 84% in 624 patients, respectively. Despite an accuracy level of frozen-section diagnosis for myometrial invasion of 80 and 84% for tumor grade in our patient collective, all patients who required surgical staging were accurately identified.

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