Low incidence of HPV DNA in sera of pretreatment cervical cancer patients

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of usin g DNA in the circulation as a diagnostic tool for cervical cancer. Methods. We used PCR followed by Southern hybridization to detect human pap illomavirus (HPV) DNA in serum samples taken from patients of cervical canc er before treatment. Results. A total of 60 samples were analyzed. In a set of 40 samples, witho ut knowledge of the HPV DNA status in the corresponding cervical carcinomas , we could detect 8 (20%) positive samples, of which 7 (17.5%) were HPV 16 and 1 (2.5%) was HPV 18. In another set of 20 samples, known to be HPV 16 i nfected in the corresponding cervical carcinomas, we detected only 4 (20%) HPV-16-positive samples. The occurrence of HPV DNA in sera of cervical canc er patients seems sporadic. Conclusion. The low incidence indicates that serum HPV DNA has limited appl ication in the diagnosis of cervical cancer. (C) 2001 Academic Press.