trouble converting string to integer

For some reason I cannot find a solution that works for this senario

Here goes

Integer grpTypeID = null;

//request.getParameter is passed from a form

if(request.getParameter("grpTypeID") != null){
   grpTypeID = new Integer(request.getParameter("grpTypeID"));
               //this is where I am confused -- I have tried Integer.parseInt but it does not work because grpTypeID is an
               //Integer not an Int
} else {
   grpTypeID = null;
}

Now this is where I cannot get a result -- e.g. grpTypeName is never returned

if(grpTypeID == grpTypeDTO.getGroup_TypeID()){
    grpTypeName = grpTypeDTO.getGrpTypeName();
}

I cannot get this statement to return a TRUE --

grpTypeDTO.getGroup_TypeID is an Integer

Any ideas on what I can do to get the if statement to return a TRUE if the values equal each other?

Thanks in advance,
RCMB