Diagnostic Methods for Diseases Caused by a HPV Infection Comprising Determining the Methylation Status of the HPV Genome

摘要

Methods and kits for diagnosing and/or monitoring the progression of or otherwise staging a disease caused by a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in a test sample obtained from a subject comprise determining the methylation status of a HPV genome. The presence of hypermethylation of the HPV genome indicates a positive diagnosis of the disease and/or an increased level of methylation of the HPV genome indicates the progression of the disease to a more advanced form. Suitable diseases linked to HPV infection include cancers such as cervical cancer. High risk HPV types such as HPV16 are generally assessed in the methods and using the kits of the invention. The HPV16 methylome is provided.