Abstract
Antibody activity to Herpes simplex virus type‐1 (HSV‐1) and type‐2 (HSV‐2) was measured by the indirect hemagglutination (IHA) test in sera from 124 women with squamous‐cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix, 46 women with non‐cervical cancer and 116 matched normal women. The type‐specific antibodies were assayed by IHA inhibition test. The proportion of cervical cancer cases positive for HSV‐2 infection was significantly greater than that of non‐cervical cancer cases and matched control women. No difference was observed in the percentages positive for HSV‐1 infection among the three study groups. The mean titers of antibodies to HSV‐1 as well as HSV‐2 were significantly higher than the respective titers in the other two study groups. However, determination of type‐specific antibodies did not help in establishing evidence for past infection by HSV‐2 in patients with cervical cancer, as no type‐specific HSV‐2 antibodies were produced in 58% of the cases. The cervical cancer cases were also analysed according to clinical staging (Stages 0 to IV) and histological differentiation of squamous‐cell carcinoma. Neither the percentage of positives for HSV‐2 infection nor HSV‐antibody titers varied, either in clinical staging or in histological differentiation of cervical cancer. These findings suggest that HSV‐2 may be related to cervical cancer as an etiological agent but not as a passenger virus of carcinomatous tissue.