Human papillomavirus infection and neoplasia of the cervix and anogenital region in women with Hodgkin's disease

Immunosuppression has been associated with an increased incidence of condyloma and neoplasia of the cervix and anogenital region, lesions associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. The role of immunosuppression as a risk factor for the development of these lesions in patients with Hodgkin's disease was studied in a series of 666 consecutive women seen at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital between 1963 and 1982. Thirty-nine patients (5.9%) of the entire series and 45.9% of the 85 women with Hodgkin's disease who had a gynecologic examination showed evidence of condyloma, dysplasia or carcinoma of the cervix or anogenital region. This is a significantly greater percentage of affected women than would be expected based on published results from Papanicolaou screening services. The evidence is compatible with immunosuppression from Hodgkin's disease or its treatment rendering a woman susceptible to persistent HPV infection and its consequences.