Association of breast cancer with human papillomavirus types 16 and 18 in the north of Iran

In Iranian women, the age of breast cancer is 10-20 years earlier than women living in developed countries. Moreover, HPV infection has increased among Iranian women and it is more common compared to European women. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of HPV as a potential risk factor for breast cancer at younger ages. The results showed a significant difference between the two groups of women with breast cancer and without malignancy in the age of first pregnancy and gravidity. There was a significant difference in human papillomavirus type 16 infection between the two groups with breast cancer and without malignancy. The logistic regression model examined the effect of all variables and showed that infection with human papillomavirus type 16 increased the risk of breast cancer by 4.6 times, taking into account other variables. The present study, independent of other studies, showed that human papillomavirus type 16 could be a risk factor for breast cancer. If the virus is found in an individual, it is recommended that the patient be monitored frequently and more detailed examinations for breast malignancies be performed.