Detection of human papillomavirus DNA in invasive carcinomas of the cervix by in situ hybridization.

An examination of 27 invasive cancers of the cervix was performed using the technique of in situ hybridization using human papillomavirus DNA probes. Four tissues, previously found to harbor papillomavirus DNA by filter hybridization, were confirmed by in situ analysis. One further tissue never previously studied was also found to be positive by in situ hybridization. Overall, we found 33% of invasive cancers of the cervix to contain human papillomavirus DNA. In contrast, 55% of carcinoma in situ and severe dysplasia of the cervix were found to be positive for human papillomavirus DNA. These results confirmed that the sample population of patients in our studies have a relatively low association of human papillomavirus DNA with invasive cancers of the cervix and that in situ hybridization provides an effective complementation to filter hybridization for human papillomavirus-infected tumors.