Human papillomavirus infection and primary fallopian tube carcinoma: a seroepidemiological study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31 or 33 infection in primary fallopian tube carcinoma (PFTC).

DESIGN

A retrospective case-control study.

SETTING

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Helsinki University Hospital, Finland.

POPULATION: Seventy-eight consecutive women with PFTC diagnosed between 1985 and 2000 were studied. For each case, two healthy controls were selected.

METHODS

Serum immunoglobulin G antibodies to HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31 and 33 were measured from women with PFTC and their healthy controls.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Analysis of HPV 6, 11, 18, 31 and 33 seropositivity among women with PFTC and controls.

RESULTS

Seropositivity rates of non-oncogenic or oncogenic HPV types did not differ between cases and controls, odds ratios being 1.04-1.30 for oncogenic HPVs and 1.08-1.19 for non-oncogenic HPVs, similarly. We did not find any multiplicative joint effect in PFTC by antibodies to more than one oncogenic HPV type; neither did we find any antagonistic effect among women with antibodies to non-oncogenic and oncogenic HPV types.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results do not suggest any link between PFTC and serological evidence for HPV infection.