Detection and Quantitation of Human Papillomavirus DNA in the Plasma of Patients with Cervical Carcinoma 1

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) play a central role in the development of cervical carcinoma. Plasma DNA from 232 patients taken at diagnosis or after treatment for invasive cervical cancer (n 175) or carcinoma in situ (n 57) and 60 normal controls were examined for HPV-16 or HPV-18 E7 DNA by conventional and realtime quantitative PCR assays. We found HPV-16 or HPV-18 E7 DNA in 6.9% (11 of 175) of invasive cervical cancer cases (18.1% of cases positive for HPV-16 or HPV-18 at the genital tract), 1.8% (1 of 57) of carcinoma in situ, and 1.7% (1 of 60) of normal controls by conventional PCR. Quantitative PCR identified the highest concentrations of HPV DNA (copy number of HPV/ml of plasma) in patients with invasive cervical cancer (mean, 11,163; median, 183.5), followed by a level of 8 in the single carcinoma in situ case and 0 copies in the normal control initially positive by conventional PCR. HPV DNA can be detected in the plasma of some patients with HPV-positive cervical tumors. It remains to be demonstrated whether quantitative PCR analysis of HPV DNA in plasma may have utility in patients at high risk of recurrent disease.