Real-Time PCR and its Applications in Human Papillomavirus Quantitation and Physical Status Identification

ABSTRACT

The basic principles and advantages of real-time PCR are reviewed in this paper as well as the recent literature regarding to detection and research of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the routine and research laboratory. Real-time PCR assays are not only fast and simple to quantitatively detect and type HPV DNA, but also can define the physical state of the virus, providing valuable information with regard to the progression of HPV infection. Thus, identification of integrated HPV and measurement of the viral load provides a new potential prognostic tool with which to estimate the risk of cervical cancer in individual patients.