OBJECTIVETo investigate human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and genotyping in patients with cervical cancer in Guangzhou in the last 3 decades.

METHODSHPV L1 gene fragment in paraffin-embedded cervical cancer samples was amplified by HPV-specific PCR with consensus primers, and typing of HPV strains was performed on the basis of sequence analysis of the PCR products.

RESULTSThe positivity rates of HPV DNA was 26.2% in the 99 cases of cervical cancer. Five HPV genotypes were identified including HPV16, 18, 33, 52 and 58.

CONCLUSIONHPV16, 58 and 33 are the most common genotypes of HPV, accounting for over 88.4% in the total infected cases, suggesting that the HPV genotypes closely related to cervical cancer is more centralized in Guangzhou.

China ; epidemiology ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Female ; Genotype ; Human papillomavirus 16 ; isolation & purification ; Human papillomavirus 18 ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Papillomaviridae ; genetics ; Papillomavirus Infections ; epidemiology ; virology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; pathology ; virology