Background: Two clinically relevant high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) types 16 and 18 are etiologically associated with the development of cervical carcinoma and are also reported to be present in many other carcinomas in extra-genital organ sites. Presence of HPV has been reported in breast carcinoma which is the second most common cancer in India and is showing a fast rising trend in urban population. The two early genes E6 and E7 of HPV type 16 have been shown to immortalize breast epithelial cells in vitro, but the role of HPV infection in breast carcinogenesis is highly controversial. Present study has therefore been undertaken to analyze the prevalence of HPV infection in both breast cancer tissues and blood samples from a large number of Indian women with breast cancer from different geographic regions. Methods: The presence of all mucosal HPVs and the most common high-risk HPV types 16 and 18 DNA was detected by two different PCR methods - (i) conventional PCR assays using consensus primers (MY09/11, or GP5+/GP6+) or HPV16 E6/E7 primers and (ii) highly sensitive Real-Time PCR. A total of 228 biopsies and corresponding 142 blood samples collected prospectively from 252 patients from four different regions of India with significant socio-cultural, ethnic and demographic variations were tested. Results: All biopsies and blood samples of breast cancer patients tested by PCR methods did not show positivity for HPV DNA sequences in conventional PCRs either by MY09/11 or by GP5+/GP6+/HPV16 E6/E7 primers. Further testing of these samples by real time PCR also failed to detect HPV DNA sequences. Conclusions: Lack of detection of HPV DNA either in the tumor or in the blood DNA of breast cancer patients by both conventional and real time PCR does not support a role of genital HPV in the pathogenesis of breast cancer in Indian women.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) -associated cervical cancer is the second-most common cancer in women worldwide but it is the most frequent gynaecological cancer and cancer associated death in India women. The objective of this study was to assess knowledge about cervical cancer, HPV, HPV vaccine, HPV vaccine acceptance among school and undergraduates students and their parent’s perception about acceptance of HPV vaccine in Northern part of India (Delhi and NCR regions). A qualitative questionnaire based survey among 2500 urban/rural students aged 12–22 years was conducted. Overall, a low frequency (15%) of HPV and cervical cancer awareness was observed in students and their parents. However, the awareness was much higher in females belonging to urban setup compared to boys with a perception that HPV causes cervical cancer in women only. Additionally, only (13%) participants who were aware of cervical cancer and HPV) were willing to accept HPV vaccination. Apparently, parents of female students were two times more willing to accept HPV vaccination for their ward than male students (p<0.001; OR 95%CI = 2.09 (1.58–2.76). Cervical cancer and HPV awareness among school, undergraduate students and also to their parents was found to be very low in this part of India. The level of awareness and education appears to be insignificant determinants in rural compared to urban setup. Better health education will be needed to maximize public awareness for cervical cancer prevention.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer with sexual history as a consistent risk factor. This is the pioneering study that evaluates the frequency of HPV infection in prostate cancer in India. Ninety five (95) histopathologically confirmed cancer and fifty five (55) BPH from Indian population were analyzed for HPV infection using a pair of consensus sequence primer followed by type specific PCRs for both high-risk and low-risk HPV types. The data demonstrate HPV infection in 41% of prostate tumor biopsies and 20% in BPH. Subsequent PCR- based HPV typing using type - specific primers revealed 32% were infected with HPV type 16 whereas 6% were found to be positive for HPV type 18, while in BPH controls only 5% of the BPH controls were infected with HPV 16 and this difference was highly significant (p = 0.0004). Significant proportion of HPV infected (74%) cases belonged to stage III and IV (p < 0.001) with a high Gleason score ≥8 (p = 0.003). The study represents for the first time the incidence of HPV infection in prostate cancer in Indian population and strengthens the hypothesis that HPV infection could be one of the co factor associated with progression of prostate cancer.