Objective: To explore the effects of estrogen (E(2)) and progesterone (P) on cervical cancer and the synergistic action between estrogen, progesterone and human papillomaviruses (HPV).
Methods: Hoted-start polymerase chain reaction (HS-PCR) was used to detect HPVs, HPV16 and ELISA was used to assay E(2) and P on 141 cases with cervical cancer and on 129 healthy controls.
Results: Positive rates of HPVs and HPV16 were 75.2% and 46.8% respectively in cervical cancer group, significantly higher than that in controls. Levels of estrogen and progesterone in case group were significantly higher than that in controls and a dose-responded relationship between the levels of estrogen and cervical cancer was revealed. Estrogen and HPV showed an additive interaction in the development of cervical cancer.
Conclusion: HPV16 infection played a principal role in the development of cervical cancer. The high levels of entogenous estrogen could increase the risk of cervical cancer and might serve as a cofactor in the development of HPV-induced cervical cancer.