Akinrinade, Hilda (2015) The prevalence of high-risk Human Papillomavirus types in patients with abnormal breast tumours. (MSc(R) thesis), Kingston University, .

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent types of cancers worldwide and the most commonly diagnosed malignancy among the female population. Although there has been considerable research into the aetiology of breast cancer, the disease remains poorly understood because many risk factors have been shown to play a role in its development. It has been well documented that High-Risk Human Papillomaviruses (HR) HPV play an important role in the development and progression of cervical cancer. This discovery has triggered an interest in a number of studies that have investigated the presence of HPV in breast cancer, however, due to the conflicting evidence, the relationship between HPV and breast cancer remains controversial. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of 12 High-Risk (HR) Human Paillomavirus types including HPV-16, 18, 31,33, 35, 39, 45, 52, 56, 58, 59 and 66 in breast tumour using fresh breast cancerous and non-cancerous tissue samples. The DNA from a total of 40 breast tissue samples were exrtracted and amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). the PCR products were then run on a 3% Gel using Gel Electrophoresis to visualize HPV DNA bands. The results revelaed that HR HPV DNA was detected in a total of 24 out of 40 samples (60%). This included: 76% (16/21) of the cancerous breast tissue, 31% (5/16) benign breast tissue and 100% (3/3) in two of the breast papillomas and one abnormal breast tissue with a previous breast cancer history (PBCH). The results from this study suggest that Human Papillomvarius is present in breast cancer tissue, which therefore, provides evidence that suggests an association of an HPV infection with breast cancer and allows future studies to address questions around factors that cause breast cancer development. Nevertheless, more breast samples need to be screened in order to strengthen the findings from this study and further research within this field is required to determine and understand the exact role that HPV plays in breast cancer. Furthermore, this study highlights the significance of targeting a wider spectrum of HR-HPV genotypes, which may facilitate the implementation of prophylactic vaccines that protect against the broader spectrum of the HR HPV types detected in this study instead of the current vaccines which are restricted to the two most common HR-HPV types: HPV 16 and 18.

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