Highest percentage of High-Risk HPV found in 16-30 age group – SRL Analysis on Cervical Cancer

Western region (followed by the South) had most prominence of HPV infection, which causes cervical cancer

A retrospective analysis of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) testing in Cervical Cancer Screening by SRL Diagnostics has revealed that samples received from women from 16 – 30 years (14%) age group had the highest percentage of positive cases of high risk HPV, and hence a chance of developing cervical cancer. It was followed by the percentage in women from the 61-85 years (8.39 per cent) age group. More than 3,000 women were tested pan-India between 2013 and 2017 for High Risk HPV infection by using the global standard method – Hybrid Capture II. Overall, 8.04 per cent women showed high-risk HPV infection. More women from western India (about 10.23per cent) had high risk HPV infection than those from any other zone, closely followed by women from the South (about 9.78 per cent) zone.

The tests utilised in the screening for cervical cancer are – Conventional (Pap) test and Liquid-based Cytology (LBC), Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) and HPV testing for high-risk HPV types. In this analysis by SRL test data of HPV by Hybrid Capture 2 were used.

India accounts for nearly one-third of all global cervical cancer deaths, with approximately 1, 32,000 new cases being diagnosed and 74,000 deaths occurring annually. After breast cancer, cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths, accounting for 17 per cent of all cancer mortalities among women between 30 and 69 years, where the median age is 38 years. India ranks highest in the age-standardised incidence of cervical cancer in South Asia at 22 per 100,000 population.

Almost 100 per cent of cervical cancers are caused by long-term (over a decade), persistent HPV infections. Among 100 different HPV types, 8 most common high-risk HPV types: 16, 18, 45, 33, 31, 52, 58, and 35 account for 91 per cent of all cases of cervical cancer. HPV 16, 18, and 45 are known to occur in 75 per cent of the most common type of cervical cancer (squamous cell) and in 94 per cent of adenocarcinomas (the second most common form).   Considering its role in cervical cancer, HPV testing has become an essential part of current clinical practice mainly for the management of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions.

Studies in India indicate about 5 per cent of women in the general population are estimated to harbor cervical HPV-16/18 infection at a given time. Elaborating on this Dr B.R Das, Advisor and Mentor – R&D and Molecular Pathology, SRL Diagnostics said, “Though most of HPV infections clear up on their own and most pre-cancerous lesions resolve spontaneously, persistence of such high-risk HPV infection has 100 fold risk of high-grade cervical cancer. Therefore, main goal of cervical cancer screening should be to detect and treat pre-cancer before cancer develops.”