Abstract:Objective To explore the integration status of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) type 16 DNA in cervical squamous cell cancer (SCC), its precursors (high-grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion, HSIL) and the role of virus integration in cervical carcinogenesis. Methods Viral integration was determined by a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 428 HPV type 16-positive cervical scrapings obtained from women with different grades of histologically confirmed cervical lesions or normal cervical epithelia, and the ratios of E2/E6 genes were used as a surrogate for integration. The case patients included 103 women with SCC and 251 HSIL, while the controls included 34 LSIL and 40 normal cervical epithelia. The prevalence of HPV 16 DNA integration in different grades of cervical lesions was analyzed by χ2 trend test. The association of viral integration and the risk of prevalent HSIL or SCC were assessed by unconditional logistic regression. Results The prevalence of HPV-16 DNA integration increased in parallel with the severity of cervical lesions , which increased from 6.8% (5/74) in controls to 29.9% (75/251) in HSIL and 68.0% (70/103) in SCC (P?0.05). The differences among the three groups were statistically significant (P?0.05). After adjustment for smoking status and co-infection with other high-risk HPV types, the odds ratio (OlR) showed by multivariate analysis of the risk association of integration with prevalent HSIL and SCC was 2.30 (95% CI: 1.62, 3.18). Conclusions HPV-16 integration occurs early in the natural course of viral infection. Viral integration may contribute to the process of cervical carcinogenesis.