BackgroundColorectal cancer is one of the most common types of neoplasia among the worldwide
adult population. Among neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract, it is ranked
second in relation to prevalence and mortality, but its etiology is only known in
around 5% of the cases. It is believed that 15% of malignant diseases are related
to viral oncogenesis.AimTo correlate the presence of HPV with the staging and degree of cell
differentiation among patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma.MethodsA retrospective case-control study was conducted on 144 patients divided between a
test group of 79 cases of colorectal cancer and a control group to analyze 144
patients aged 25 to 85 years (mean, 57.85 years; standard deviation, 15.27 years
and median, 58 years). Eighty-six patients (59.7%) were male. For both groups,
tissue samples from paraffin blocks were subjected to DNA extraction followed by
the polymerase chain reaction using generic and specific primers for HPV 16 and
18. Dot blot hybridization was also performed with the aim of identifying HPV
DNA.ResultsThe groups were shown to be homogenous regarding sex, age and site of HPV findings
in the samples analyzed. Out of the 41 patients with HPV, 36 (45.6%) were in the
cases and five (7.7%) were in the control group (p<0.001). All the HPV cases
observed comprised HPV 16, and HPV 18 was not shown in any of the cases studied.
There were no significant differences in comparisons of sex, age and site
regarding the presence of HPV in either of the groups. It was not observe any
significant difference in relation to staging or degree of cell differentiation
among the patients with colorectal cancer.ConclusionHuman papillomavirus type 16 is present in individuals with colorectal carcinoma.
However, its presence was unrelated to staging or degree of differentiation.