In the last two decades, the cervical cancer puzzle has become a coherent description that includes the identification of human papillomavirus (HPV) as the sexually transmitted etiologic agent and the characterization of the major determinants of HPV acquisition. Triage studies…

The Bethesda system is a system of terminology for reporting the results of cervical cytology. It was developed in 1988, and is now widely used in the United States. This system was updated in April 2001. The most important modifications…

Experimental, clinical, and epidemiological evidence strongly suggests that genital Human Papillomaviruses (HPVs) are predominantly sexually transmitted. Epidemiological studies in virginal and HPV-negative women clearly indicate that sexual intercourse is virtually a necessary step for acquiring HPV. As with any other…

Today, "persistent" infections by certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are considered necessary for developing cervical cancer. Producing efficient vaccines against these viruses may eventually lead to a great reduction in incidence and mortality rates of this cancer. In the…

Evidence for the clinical utility of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing has increased over the years and has now become very convincing. Some specific uses of HPV detection are a) triage of women with cytological determinations of atypical squamous cells…