[Status of papillomaviruses and their diagnosis in preventive screening]

Cervical carcinoma and its precursors are discriminated by their epidemiology from other malignant diseases. Human papillomavirusus (HPV) have been identified as the central etiologic factor in these diseases. Certain HPV gene products are tumor specific antigens in cervical cancer which leads to new perspectives in prevention and therapy. HPV testing is a realistic option in screening, triage and follow-up of cervical cancer and its precursors which has shown significant advantages over traditional methods in numerous large studies and proven cost effectiveness in recent model simulations.