Adding a Test for Human Papillomavirus DNA to Cervical-Cancer Screening

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
It is now clear that virtually all squamous-cell cervical carcinomas contain one of 18 types of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA, as shown definitively in the article by Muñoz et al. in this issue of the Journal (pages 518–527). Although the observation that HPV DNA is routinely detected in cervical cancers is not proof that it has a causal role, the relative risk of cervical cancer associated with high-risk types of HPV is even higher than the risk of lung cancer associated with smoking. Several oncogenes have been identified in high-risk (oncogenic) types of HPV, and the biologic mechanisms of malignant . . .