Samples taken from the CWCS will allow study on the prevalence and history of HPV infection, as it relates to cervical dysplasia, and in particular the factors that contribute to persistent HPV infection and the biomarkers associated with high grade lesions. We will also correlate cervical mucus cytokine profiles with HPV persistence, in an attempt to determine whether a specific cytokine profile (the hallmarks of specific types of immune responses) preludes to or accompanies persistent HPV infection, which is the main risk factor for cervical disease. Questionnaires administered to participants will help us assess the influence of lifestyle factors on HPV persistence and also how lifestyle factors change in these young women during their college years.

This project will focus on the development, initial testing and validation of a novel DNA microarray system for comprehensive cervical cancer screening. These studies will be intimately connected with Project 1, using the same samples, as well as taking advantage of the same data sets for validation of the microarray results. However, the development of DNA arrays for cervical cancer screening will constitute a novel and separate endeavor, both scientifically and under a technical point of view.  The idea here is to develop a tool that could effectively replace HPV testing in the screening for cervical cancer, and provide much more information about the status of a lesion and its likelihood to progress to malignancy, by assessing not only HPV status, but also the levels of expression of the HPV oncogene E7 and those of numerous potential biomarkers of progression, all on a single slide.