DCEG has been doing research into cervical and other HPV-related cancers for over 30 years. Cervical cancer etiology  is better understood than the origins of most major malignancies. Within DCEG, several groups continue to study the most interesting and important research topics. Advances in understanding of HPV natural history and etiology have led in two major directions: (1) vaccinology and immunoepidemiology; and (2) screening and clinical management.  It is this second direction that is based in the Clinical Genetics Branch, because of the remarkable similarity between the HPV work and the analogous work related to familial cancer research. The HPV screening and clinical management area includes three major components:

1. Exploration of remaining important topics in human papilllomavirus (HPV) natural history related to cervical multi-stage carcinogenesis
2. Study by intensive genomic and epigenetic approaches why certain HPV types and type variants are such powerful carcinogens while genetically-related types are not
3. Translation of natural history estimates into useful clinical risk prediction tools to guide cervical cancer prevention

Selected studies include: