Prevalence of antibodies to herpes simplex virus and frequency of HLA antigens in patients with preinvasive and invasive cervical cancer.

Previous herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infections are known to predispose women for the development of cervical cancer, but causal relationship between the virus and the cancer has never been proven. Forty-six patients with cervical carcinoma (13 with preinvasive lesions and 33 with various stages of invasive disease) were selected for the present study. Among the patients 96% were seropositive for the presence of antibodies to herpes simplex virus compared to 87% of the 30 controls. Antibodies specific for HSV-2 were found in the sera from 24% of the patients and 17% of the controls by the use of an immunoblotting test. Patients and controls were typed for HLA-A,B,C and D/DR antigens, but no significant associations were found.