Status of carcinoma cervix and high risk HPV 16 DNA in women with postmenopausal uterine bleeding (PMB)

Abstract

Postmenopausal bleeding (PMB) is a discharge that occurs following the firm diagnosis of menopause, which is at least six months from the end of women’s menstrual cycle but not to be confused with infrequent or irregular periods occurring around the time of menopause. It is a common problem representing 5% of all gynecology outpatient attendances which are to eliminate endometrial cancer as the cause of bleed and PMB should be reported urgently to the gynecologist. Uterine bleeding in postmenopausal women is highly indicative clinically of malignancy originating from cervix or endometrium and Human papilloma virus (HPV) is one of the causative agent for carcinoma cervix. Incidence of carcinoma cervix increases with the age in mature women, however, incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection reduces as menopause sets in. The presence of the virus could be used as an early indication of disease potential. Because the Pap test can only detect clinical evidence of cervical disease, molecular-based diagnostic tools are being used more frequently to detect the virus before abnormal cell growth can be observed. This study was aimed to determine the status of cervical cancer and HPV 16 DNA positivity in relation to postmenopausal bleeding.