A new and sensitive method of screening for human papillomavirus infection

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) have been implicated in the development of cervical cancer, and HPV screening may one day supplement cytologic analysis of cervical samples. Detection of the small amounts of HPV DNA in cervical scrapes has been very difficult. The polymerase chain reaction is a new technique that can specifically amplify target DNA to facilitate its detection. We have amplified a region of HPV type 16 DNA using this technique and have shown the method to be both specific and sensitive (a tenfold improvement when compared with Southern blotting). Among 21 cervical scrapes, five from women with normal smears and 16 from women with dyskaryotic smears, HPV 16 DNA was present in scrapes from two women (40%) with normal smears and in scrapes from 12 women (75%) with dyskaryotic smears. The polymerase chain reaction technique is rapid, requires no radioactive probes, and should be the method of choice in future studies to determine the prevalence of HPV infection of the cervix.