The presence of HPV in cervical biopsies, determined by histology and PCR with 2 different pairs of consensus primers.

The link between human Papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical carcinomas has become increasingly convincing recently, and the detection of infection with certain HPV types may become an important element in screening for cervical pre-cancer. We applied the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to detect and type HPV-DNA in biopsies from the uterine cervix with a histological diagnosis of CIN and condylomatosis. Forty-eight consecutive cervical biopsies were analysed for HPV-DNA by PCR, using two different sets of consensus-primers. Typing was performed with HPV type-specific primers. Histological reevaluation revealed that 42 biopsies (87%) had condylomatous features. HPV was demonstrated in 46/48 (95.8%). HPV type 6/11 was found in seven biopsies, while HPV 16 was present in 23 samples, including two cases of double-infection. HPV type 18 was not found at all, and in 19 cases the HPV type present could not be determined. Apparently, HPV-DNA was absent in two cases. The results indicate that HPV-DNA screening is a valuable supplement to histopathological screening for cervical neoplasia. The value of different primer pairs is discussed.