Presence of human papillomavirus in breast cancer and its association with prognostic factors

Abstract

Breast cancer accounts for 16% of all female cancers worldwide, and in Venezuela, it is the leading cause of death among women. Recently, the presence of high-risk genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) has been demonstrated in breast cancer and has been associated with histopathological features of the tumours. In Venezuela, there is no study which determines the association between the presence of HPV in breast cancer and the histopathological features. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the presence of HPV in the different types of breast cancer, according to their molecular classification, based on the expression of ER, PR, HER2 and Ki67. With this purpose in mind, we assessed the presence of the HPV genome in 24 breast cancer samples diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and lobular carcinoma, by the INNO-LIPA genotyping extra kit and the evaluation of the markers ER, PR, HER2, and Ki67 by immunohistochemistry. The viral genome was found in 41.67% of the total number of samples, 51 being the most frequent genotype with 30.77%, followed by types 18 and 33, with 23.08%, respectively. Most tumours were found in the group of luminal A, with a low range of Ki67 expression. The presence of HPV in breast tumours could affect their growth pattern and metastatic power.