zur Hausen and De Villiers, 1994
]. There has recently We have analysed the DNA from 24 prostate tisbeen an increasing amount of interest in the male genisue biopsies, spanning a range of Gleason gradtalia as both a reservoir for HPV infection and also as a ing from benign to grade 5 and mixed randomly potentially similar target for papillomavirus-mediated with cervical cancer samples of known human tumourigenesis. This has been investigated using papillomavirus (HPV) status, for the prevalence highly sensitive DNA detection methods to find HPV of HPV DNA, in a double-blind study to ensure DNA in samples of human penile and eurethral cancers complete objectivity. Polymerase chain reactions [Wiener et al., 1992a,b; Villa and Lopez, 1986], but also (PCR) were performed using general E1 open in normal asymptomatic urethral cells [Della Torre et reading frame primers for HPV under low strinal., 1992]. Additionally, a number of papers have regency conditions, in addition to reactions conported the detection of HPV genomes in human bladder taining primers specific for HPV16, E2, and E6
carcinomas [Anwar et al., 1992a] and human prostate open reading frames under higher, more strincancers [Ibrahim et al., 1992; Anwar et al., 1992b; Mcgent PCR conditions. The presence of cellular Nicol and Dodd, 1991; Rotola et al., 1992b]. In Rotola DNA was verified by the use of primers for hypoet al. [1992], an episomal HPV 16 molecule was cloned, xanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase.
and Dodd et al. [1993] were able to detect HPV gene DNA bands were not detected in the prostate expression in biopsies of human prostate. However, biopsies using the HPV16-specific primers under more recent studies [reviewed by Cuzick, 1995] suggest high-stringency PCR conditions, however a prethat the detection of HPV in carcinoma of the prostate dominant band in the 400 bp region was obis less frequent than originally observed and indeed served in 15 of the prostate biopsies using the Sinclair et al. [1993] reported that the detection could general primers and the low annealing temperawell be technique specific, in that a variation in the ture of 40ЊC. This fragment was excised and annealing temperatures for the polymerase chain reaccloned into the pT7 blue vector and the sequence tion (PCR) used to detect the virus genomes could lead of the insert determined. Although the cloned to spuriously positive results. sequences initiated and terminated with the two
We wished to test these various options using a douauthentic PCR primers, they did not contain a ble-blind study to ensure complete objectivity and to significant HPV-related open reading frame. Our overcome potential problems of sample cross-contamiresults indicate that HPV type 16 and closely renation in this type of work. Accordingly, human proslated types, as detected by the general primer tatic biopsies taken from both benign and malignant pair, are unlikely initiators of prostate carcinotissue were screened for the presence of HPV DNA. We genesis within our population.