Prevalence of human papillomavirus type 18 DNA in adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix occurring in Japan.

To identify whether the incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) type 18 DNA in adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma is attributable to the histological types or geographical differences, the presence of HPV-16 and HPV-18 DNA in carcinoma of the uterine cervix from Japan were studied by in situ hybridization using tritium labeled HPV DNA probes. HPV-18 DNA was detected in 5 of 11 cases (45%) of adenocarcinoma, one case of adenocarcinoma in situ and 2 of 3 cases of adenosquamous carcinoma. In contrast, HPV-16 DNA was detected in 2 of 11 cases (18%) of adenocarcinoma, and 3 of 7 cases (43%) of squamous cell carcinoma. Compared with our previous results (Tase et al. 1988), the present results imply that the prevalence of HPV-18 DNA in carcinoma of the uterine cervix is attributable rather to the histological differences than to the geographical differences.