Search for human papillomaviruses in normal, hyperplastic, and neoplastic endometria.

Twenty-eight endometria, including seven normal, five hyperplastic, and 16 neoplastic tissues, were analyzed with the Southern blot hybridization technique for their possible association with human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Human papillomavirus probes with types 6/11, 16, 18, and 31 failed to identify HPV DNA in any of these tissues. The findings suggest that the endometrium is not a usual target for HPV infection, and that HPV is not likely to be a carcinogenic factor in the development of endometrial carcinoma.