A new type of papillomavirus associated with cancer of the uterine cervix.

A new human papillomavirus (HPV) type was detected by low-stringency Southern blot hybridization analysis of DNA from an endocervical adenocarcinoma. The genomic DNA of the virus, which was obtained as two BamHI fragments of 3.75 and 4.1 kb, was molecularly cloned into lambda L47 and subsequently subcloned into pBR322 for further characterization. Hybridization studies demonstrated that these viral DNA isolates were only distantly related to other HPV and thus represented a new type of HPV, called HPV 35. A restriction enzyme map was prepared which allowed a comparison of the genetic organization of this HPV with that of HPV 6b; the results demonstrated collinearity of the HPV 35 genome with that of HPV 6b. Prevalence studies revealed that HPV 35 was present in 2 of 158 (1%) anogenital intraepithelial neoplasia and in 3 of 69 (4%) anogenital cancers. Thus HPV 35 is a low-prevalence human papillomavirus associated with anogenital intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer.