[Clinical relevance of nucleic acid detection of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in cells from smears of the cervix uteri].

Cervical smears from 516 women were investigated cytologically and for the presence of papilloma virus (HPV) type 16/18 DNA sequences. From the cytologically normal smears (Pap I, II, IIw) 57/424 (13%) 16/18 were found HPV positive and from the pathological ones (Pap III, IIID, IVa, IVb, V), 30/92 (33%). The age prevalence of the HPV infection--provided a cytologically normal smear--appears compatible with the period of sexual activity, but persistence of the HPV infection has to be considered as a complicating factor. Our investigations on successive smears nevertheless permit the hypothesis that an HPV infection may disappear. The use of biotin-labeled nucleic acid probes yields results at least as reliable as those obtained with radioactive probes. The test for HPV positivity appears at present to be of limited diagnostic and prognostic benefit, particularly for the individual case. Investigations on fundamental oncogenic mechanisms are a different matter.