Objectives and methods: HLA II DQB1 polymorphisms have been shown to associate with cervical cancer risk, but results varied among different populations. In this study, the HLA DQB1 alleles among 221 southern Chinese women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade III (CIN III)/invasive cervical carcinoma (ICC) were compared to 191 controls.
Results: The frequency of DQB1*03 was significantly lower among ICC overall as compared to controls (65.4% vs. 79.1%, odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 0.50 [0.28-0.88], corrected p-value: 0.04). The protective association of DQB1*03 remained significant for human papillomavirus (HPV) 16-positive ICC, but not for HPV16-negative cases. This is in contrast to studies on European populations where DQB1*03 was associated with an increased risk for ICC. In the current study, 70.1% of the HPV16 isolates were Asian variants, and 28.0% were European variants. However, no significant association between HPV16 variant and DQB1*03 distribution was observed. HPV52 and HPV58 were found respectively in 16.3% and 10.0% of CIN III/ICC, which were higher compared to that of Europe and North America. Further analyses revealed a positive risk association between DQB1*06 and HPV58-positive CIN III/ICC (3.68 [1.37-9.92], corrected p-value: 0.012).
Conclusion: The host genetics and the distribution of HPV types/variants may account for the observed differences among southern Chinese and other populations.