A survey of human cancers for human papillomavirus DNA by filter hybridization.

We examined 217 tissue samples of various human malignancies for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA using low-stringency filter hybridization techniques. These techniques were sufficiently sensitive for crosshybridization of the HPV DNA probes to all the known types of papillomavirus DNAs, both human and animal. Approximately 2% of the cancers analyzed contained HPV DNA. These included carcinomas of the lung, cecum, tongue, and neck. Three of four cancers contained HPV-16-related nucleotide sequences. Thus, in addition to previous data demonstrating the association of HPV DNA with certain cancers of the skin and genital tract, data is presented that indicates that several additional human cancers also contain HPV-related nucleotide sequences.