Xavier Bosch
Emeritus researcher at the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), senior researcher at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)
Research on HPV initially focused on its etiological relationship with cervical cancer, the most severe and frequent consequence of persistent infections. Now we are broadening the scope with information about the potential medium- to long-term consequences of these infections, including non-tumoral pathology. Research on the natural history of infection in men and fertility is very limited and complex. The data from this study should be taken with caution, and conclusions and clinical implications need to be consolidated and reproduced in other studies.
The study is appropriate in its standardization of diagnostic techniques and methodology. It should be a good contributor to exploring the main hypothesis (infertility in HPV carriers in semen).
Evidence is still accumulating on this topic. Most fertility clinics have already adopted screenings of semen samples for HPV in the evaluation of male-origin infertility. The problem is that we do not have treatments for HPV infection, and therefore, the clinical implications are limited.
[Regarding the study's limitations] I believe it is appropriate to publish it in its current state, which I understand has already been peer-reviewed by specialists in the field.