Role of human papillomavirus in the development of urothelial carcinoma

It has been estimated that almost 10% of the worldwide cancer burden is linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Although the association between HPV and bladder carcinoma has been extensively investigated, data on the role of HPV in bladder carcinogenesis are controversial. The aim of the study was to assess the possible role of human papillomavirus in the development of urothelial bladder carcinomas. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded archival tissue samples were used for DNA extraction. Seventy urothelial bladder carcinoma tissues were screened by nested-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for HPV DNA with a control group of total 18 cervical tissues with invasive cervical carcinoma and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia III (CIN III). In the study group, we did not find HPV DNA positivity in any of the urothelial carcinomas. In the control group, 15 out of 18 (83.3%) samples were positive for the HPV DNA. These results indicated that there was no association between HPV infection and urothelial carcinomas.