OBJECTIVETo study the feasibility of diagnosing of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in paraffin-embedded cervical tissues by high-throughput gene chip technology and its clinical significance.

METHODSForty cases of HPV-related cervical lesions, including 18 cases of invasive squamous cell carcinoma, 12 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) III, 6 cases of CIN II and 4 cases of CIN I, were enrolled. DNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded tissues and amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using HPV DNA primers. The PCR products were then reversely hybridized with gene chip technology. The results were compared with that of in-situ hybridization (ISH).

RESULTSAll of the 18 cases of cervical squamous cell carcinoma were positive for high-risk HPV genotypes (with 1 case showing a mixture with low-risk genotypes). In contrast, 11 cases (91.7%) of CIN III, 5 cases (83%) of CIN II and none of the CIN I cases were positive for high-risk HPV genotypes. On the other hand, low-risk HPV genotypes were detected only in 1 case (17%) of CIN II and 2 cases (50%) of CIN I. The difference between the two groups (CIN III/squamous cell carcinoma versus CIN I/CIN II) was statistically significant (U = 80.0, P < 0.01). Among the 10 squamous carcinoma cases positive for HPV types 16 and 18 by gene chip technology, high-risk HPV DNA was also detected in 6 of them when using in-situ hybridization.

CONCLUSIONSGene chip technology is able to detect multiple HPV genotypes in paraffin-embedded tissues with high sensitivity and specificity. The distinction between low and high-risk HPV genotypes is seemed useful in prevention and management of cervical cancer.