Cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of death from cancer among women worldwide. Organised screening programmes aim to trace precursor lesions in order to reduce cervical cancer... Show moreCervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of death from cancer among women worldwide. Organised screening programmes aim to trace precursor lesions in order to reduce cervical cancer incidence. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary cause for cervical carcinogenesis. Most HPV infections are cleared and mild cervical abnormalities regress because of an efficient cellular immunity. A high prevalence of moderate and severe dysplasia was observed in Surinamese cervical smears, which correlates with the high cervical cancer incidence in Suriname. When compared with smears from Surinamese women living in the Netherlands their age-adjusted odds of having dysplasia appeared to be higher. HLA class I, important for the immune defence against virally induced lesions, is frequently and early altered in the HPV induced cervical carcinogenesis. This might allow premalignant lesions to escape immune surveillance and progress to cervical cancer. In part of the HLA class I altered tumours low TAP expression was detected. Multiple HPV infections are present in cervical tumours from high- and low-risk populations. They can be present in an episomal state in both diploid and aneuploid tumour cells, but integrated HPV genomes were detected only in the aneuploid tumour cell populations. Show less
