Cervical cancer (cervical carcinoma) is the fourth most frequent cancer disease in women worldwide. The most important risk factor for cervical carcinoma is an infection with human papilloma viruses (HPV) which are distributed worldwide and mainly transmitted by sexual intercourse. There are approximately 200 different HPV subtypes – 30 (high- and low-risk HPV types) of them can cause infections in the genital area. While low-risk HPV types may only lead to genital warts or minor cellular changes, high-risk HPV have a potential to alter cells suchs that they turn into cancer cells.

An HPV infection does not always cause cancer, as the virus is usually quickly eliminated by the immune system. However, if an infection persists for a longer period of time (persisting infection), this may lead to pre-cancerous changes and cervical cancer. Particularly multiple infections with different HPV subtypes are here considered a risk factor. Therefore, it is important to identify the HPV subtype to evaluate the risk of developing malignant tissue changes and to distinguish between a new infection and a persisting one.

Clinical studies have shown that HPV-based screening offers a 60 to 70% higher protection from invasive cervical cancer, in comparison to the classic cytological screening for altered cervical cells (Pap smear).

To do this, EUROIMMUN offers the EUROArray HPV, with the following characteristics:

• Simultaneous detection and typing of all 30 relevant anogenital HPV subtypes in one reaction
• Differentiation between high- and low-risk HPV subtypes, based on detection of the viral oncogenes E6/E7.
• Significant results already at an early stage of HPV infection
• Reliable identification of multiple infections
• Fully automated evaluation with the EUROArrayScan system