Serological evidence for the association of papillomavirus and cervical neoplasia.

Serum was collected from patients with anogenital warts, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and invasive squamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix. All sera were screened with a solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for an IgG antibody to a group-specific papillomavirus antigen. All three study groups had higher antibody levels than did control groups of children and adults. The invasive-cancer group had a higher geometric mean titre than the CIN or anogenital wart groups. It is proposed that patients with invasive squamous cancer of the cervix are exposed to human papillomavirus (HPV) antigens and that HPV has a role in the aetiology of cervical squamous-cell carcinoma.