Adenoid basal carcinoma of the uterine cervix: detection of integrated human papillomavirus in a rare tumor of putative "reserve cell" origin.

This study investigated the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in adenoid basal carcinoma, a rare neoplasm of the uterine cervix. Nine archival paraffin-embedded tumors were analyzed with non-isotopic in situ hybridization (NISH) for HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, and 33 using digoxigenin-labelled probes. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed on each of the cases using E6 consensus primers to HPV. A total of 67% of adenoid basal carcinomas harbored the HPV genome with NISH, of which 3 were PCR-positive. Integrated HPV 16 DNA was demonstrated in 4 of the 6 NISH positive cases. Two cases showed integrated HPV 33. HPV DNA was not detected in the three remaining cases. These results show that the integrated high-risk HPV, in particular type 16, is associated with this uncommon cervical tumor.