Nucleic acid hybridization as a diagnostic tool for the detection of human papillomaviruses

At this time nucleic acid hybridization tests are the most sensitive and reproduceable methods for the detection and differentiation of HPV types in clinical samples. The hybridization method of choice depends on the information desired and the availability of the proper diagnostic nucleic acid probes. Assuming most of the HPV nucleic acid probes become readily available in the near future, then the most sensitive test for screening clinical specimens--albeit the most laborious--will be the Southern blot procedure. As more information covering the involvement of HPV infections with the progression of lesions from benign to malignant is compiled, the need to know the particular subtype or status of HPV integration may become more or less important in the screening of clinical samples. If this information becomes less important, or unnecessary for a simple screening procedure, then dot blot hybridization may prove to be a much easier method for obtaining the information desired. If the sensitivity of in-situ hybridization using non-radioactive probes increases, then this method would become the fastest, easiest, and cleanest technique for the screening of a large number of clinical samples where limited information is desired. The ideal test for the future would be automated. In order to automate a test for HPV infections, the test design must become much simpler, and in order to design a simpler test, more information will be needed concerning the biology of HPV infections, how they cause benign or malignant cellular proliferation, and how the host immune system responds to HPV infections.