RESUMO
Risk factors of cervical cancer include early age at coitus, multipli sexual partners and antibodies to herpes simplex virus, type 2(HSV-2). To examine the interrelationships of these risk factors, a comparison was made between 78 histologically confirmed cancer cases (stages 0-IV) and 151 control women in Jamica. The rank of order of the percentages of control women with low socieconomic status, first coitus before 20 years of age, first pregnancy before 20 years of age and more than two sexual partners were: 77,97,65, and 76 respectively. The percentage of women with cancer who had coitus before 20 years of age (77) and 2 or more partners (55) were lower than that of controls. A third factors associated with cervical cancer is the presence of HSV-2 antibodies. The age-specific prevalence of HSV-2 antibodies varied from 7% to 32% in women aged 21-69 years. An increase in prevalence of HSV-2 antibodies was observed with increasin age. The age-adjusted prevalence was 11 per cent. The age-specific occurrence of HSV-2 antibodies in cancer cases varied from 6% to 28% with a prevalence of 7.8%. The mean antibody titres in cancer cases were not statistically significant as compared with matched controls (p > 0.01). the data suggest that infection with HSV-2 is a covariable of veneral factors, and the role of the virus in the genesis of some cases of cervical cancer in Jamaican women may not be excluded