Relationship of herpes simplex virus type-2 antibodies and squamous dysplasia to cervical carcinoma in situ.

Serum specimens from 75 women with cervical carcinoma in situ, 84 with squamous dysplasia, and 132 controls, who had previously been interviewed and tested for complement fixing antibodies against a number of organisms, were analyzed for HSV-2 antibodies. Carcinoma in situ and severe dysplasia were associated with HSV-2 antibodies. Mild dysplasia was related to evidence of prior infection by Trichomonas vaginalis, adenoviruses, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae, plus a history of vaginal discharge. Severe dysplasia was less strongly related to these variables. The relative risk of dysplasia increased with the number of different pathogens by which a woman had been infected. It is concluded that HSV-2 may be a cause of carcinoma in situ; that much dysplasia is a nonspecific reaction of the cervical epithelium to chronic inflammation; and that dysplastic lesions that are caused by HSV-2, and hence may be a precursor to carcinoma in situ, tend to be distinguished by their severity.