Human papilloma-virus: Marker of response to radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy in cervical cancer

Cervical cancer (CaCU) represents 6% of all malignancies in women. Molecular and epidemiological evidence relate the human papilloma virus (HPV) with the pathogenesis of the CaCU genotypes, the most frequent genotypes being 16 and 18 (VPH-16 and -18). Radiotherapy (RT) and chemoradiotherapy (ChRT) are the two primary treatment modalities for CaCU, with variable rates of resistance or persistence of the disease. The aim of this work was to study for the first time, the tumoral response before, during and after RT and RT-QT and analyze HPV-16 and -18 viral load in a Mexican population with CaCU. Samples of tumor tissue were collected from patients with CaCU: before, during and after RT and ChRT. The absolute number of HPV-16 or -18 copies was determined, and the response related with viral load in both treatments was studied by real-time PCR-based in fluorescence. The percentage of decrease in HPV viral load for ChRT and RT was 100% and 62%, respectively With ChRT, the response was better than with RT alone. HPV (-16 and -18) viral load is suggested to be a potential indicator to evaluate CaCU response in both treatments.