Association of Human Papilloma Virus and Epstein-Barr Virus with Ovarian Cancer in Shiraz, Southwestern Iran

Background & Objective:  Ovarian cancer is one of the most common cancers amongst women. The association of Human papillomavirus (HPV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with ovarian cancer is inconclusive; therefore, the aims of this study were to evaluate the frequency of HPV and EBV in malignant, borderline, benign and normal ovarian tissues. Methods:  In this case-control study, 205 Paraffin-embedded ovarian tissue specimens including 68 malignant, 27 borderline, 65 benign, and 45 normal tissues were included from December 2014 to January 2018 and subjected to DNA extraction. The β-globin gene was amplified using PCR to confirm the quality of the extracted DNA. The genomes of HPV (genotypes 16 and 18) and EBV were identified, using specific primers by PCR. Results:  The mean age of participants was 43.42 ± 15.4 years. The frequency of HPV was statistically significant between malignant versus benign (p =0.02) and control groups (p =0.002), but not with borderline tumor group (p =0.78). Amongst HPV infected samples, 1 (4.5%) and 14 (63.6%) samples were infected with types 16 and 18, respectively. Also 4 (18.2 %) samples were infected with both genotypes. Eleven samples including 7(10.3%) malignant, 1 (3.7%) borderline, 3 (4.6%) benign and none (0%) of normal control groups were infected with EBV, which was statistically different between malignant and the normal control group (p =0.03). Conclusion:  The results of our study showed the possible role of high risk HPVs as well as EBV in pathogenesis of ovarian cancer, and further studies are recommended to confirm these findings.