Relation between infection with a subtype of HPV16 and cervical neoplasia.

A variant (HPV16b) of the previously described human papillomavirus (HPV)16 (now called HPV16a) has been identified by polymerase chain reaction assays. Compared with HPV16a, HPV16b has a 21bp deletion and several point mutations within the upstream regulatory region. All cervical carcinoma samples studied contained only HPV16a. HPV16b was found only rarely in cervical neoplasia but was common in the normal population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]