University of Michigan Study Shows SEQUENOM's MassARRAY Technology Identifies HPV Infections Missed by Standard Hybridization Test

Results from a study published by the University of Michigan have shown that as many as 15% of women in the study group determined to be negative for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the cervix, via the most commonly used test for HPV DNA, may actually be infected with the virus at clinically relevant viral loads. PCR-MS detected the presence of high-risk HPV in nearly half (46.7%) of women who tested negative by the Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) test, which is standard of care in many countries. Approximately 9,000 American women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year despite regular cervical screening. The study, titled, Development and Evaluation of a PCR and Mass Spectroscopy-based (PCR-MS) Method for Quantitative, Type-specific Detection of Human Papillomavirus, will be published in the September 2009 edition of Journal of Virological Methods. The assay used in this study is exclusively licensed by SEQUENOM.