Antibodies to Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 in patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of uterine cervix in India.

Antibody activity to Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) and type-2 (HSV-2) was measured by the indirect hemagglutination (IHA) test in sera from 124 women with squamous-cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix, 46 women with non-cervical cancer and 116 matched normal women. The type-specific antibodies were assayed by IHA inhibition test. The proportion of cervical cancer cases positive for HSV-2 infection was significantly greater than that of non-cervical cancer cases and matched control women. No difference was observed in the percentages positive for HSV-1 infection among the three study groups. The mean titers of antibodies to HSV-1 as well as HSV-2 were significantly higher than the respective titers in the other two study groups. However, determination of type-specific antibodies did not help in establishing evidence for past infection by HSV-2 in patients with cervical cancer, as no type-specific HSV-2 antibodies were produced in 58% of the cases. The cervical cancer cases were also analysed according to clinical staging (Stages 0 to IV) and histological differentiation of squamous-cell carcinoma. Neither the percentage of positives for HSV-2 infection nor HSV-antibody titers varied, either in clinical staging or in histological differentiation of cervical cancer. These findings suggest that HSV-2 may be related to cervical cancer as an etiological agent but not as a passenger virus of carcinomatous tissue.