Association of human papillomavirus with squamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

The frequent association of human papillomavirus infection with preinvasive and invasive cancers of the cervix has led to speculation that the viruses may be involved in the neoplastic process. We have carried out some epidemiological studies of the prevalence of human papillomavirus infection in the female genital tract to evaluate more fully the oncogenic potential of these viruses in the cervix. A non-invasive method of detecting the virus has been developed for this purpose using DNA hybridization of cervical scrapings. The technique has been used to carry out prospective studies of patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and to investigate infection in women treated by laser therapy for CIN. We have also studied women with normal cervices to determine the prevalence of human papillomaviruses in the normal population. Further studies have involved the investigation of the effect of interferon on virus replication and epithelial proliferation in women with CIN III.