Table I. Prevalence of HPV DNA in swab samples taken from the top of lesions and in biopsies (from the same lesions previously stripped to remove superficial layers), and in swab samples from healthy skin.
| Diagnosis | Lesion swab | Lesion biopsy | Perilesion swab | Forehead swab | Buttock swab |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seborrheic keratosis | 79% (34 of 43) | 19% (eight of 43) | 69% (30 of 43) | 77% (33 of 43) | 84% (36 of 43) |
| 23% (10 of 43) | 7% (three of 43) | 37% (16 of 43) | 32% (14 of 43) | 30% (13 of 43) | |
| Actinic keratosis | 83% (38 of 46) | 11% (five of 46) | 89% (41 of 46) | 89% (41 of 46) | 69% (32 of 46) |
| 41% (19 of 46) | 2% (one of 46) | 52% (24 of 46) | 47% (22 of 46) | 32% (15 of 46) | |
| BCC | 63% (69 of 109) | 8% (nine of 109) | 76% (83 of 109) | 82% (90 of 109) | 68% (74 of 109) |
| 27% (29 of 109) | 3% (three of 109) | 38% (41 of 109) | 49% (54 of 109) | 31% (34 of 109) | |
| SCC | 58% (18 of 31) | 19% (six of 31) | 81% (25 of 31) | 94% (29 of 31) | 81% (25 of 31) |
| 13% (four of 31) | 6% (two of 31) | 30% (nine of 31) | 48% (15 of 31) | 35% (11 of 31) | |
| Totally | 69% (159 of 229) | 12% (28 of 229) | 78% (179 of 229) | 84% (193 of 229) | 73% (167 of 229) |
| 27% (62 of 229) | 4% (nine of 229) | 39% (90 of 229) | 46% (105 of 229) | 32% (73 of 229) |
Italicised figures indicate prevalence of high copy numbers of amplicons (≥+ + + on gel).
HPV DNA, human papillomavirus DNA; BCC, basal cell carcinomas; SCC, squamous cell carcinoma.