Commercially available assays for multiplex detection of alpha human papillomaviruses

Five main groups of commercial assays for the multiplex detection of alpha human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are currently available. DNA-based screening assays, which test for the presence of 13-14 HPVs without determination of HPV type, have been the standard for HPV detection in the last decade. Assays that combine testing for 14 HPVs and HPV-16 and HPV-18 genotyping are a potential future standard for HPV detection. The clinical value of HPV genotyping assays has still not been finally determined. Recently, one of the mRNA-based assays showed equal clinical sensitivity but higher clinical specificity for CIN2+/CIN3+ in comparison with the validated DNA-based assay. In situ hybridization assays are too laborious and have insufficient clinical sensitivity to be used in routine screening. Automation, price reduction and improvement of clinical specificity are the main goals for the future development of HPV assays.