Human papillomavirus antibody responses among patients with incident cervical carcinoma

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is recognized as a major cause of cervical cancer precursor lesions. HPV serology is a key method in the continuing elucidation of the importance of HPV exposure for cancer development and in predicting HPV-associated diseases. To extend previous HPV serological studies on cervical cancer, serum samples from a consecutive series of 216 women with incident untreated cervical carcinoma and 243 age- and sex-matched healthy blood donors were evaluated for the presence of antibodies against HPV capsids, a marker of past or present HPV exposure, as well as against several cervical cancer-associated defined HPV epitopes. Among the capsid antibody responses, HPV type …