Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA sequences are associated with the large majority of invasive cervical carcinoma but the role of specific genotype(s) in the outcome of the disease is still debated. To determine the viral epidemiology in the French population of patients and the prognostic value of HPV genotypes in cervical cancer, we performed a retrospective study in 515 patients treated in our Institution from 1985 to 2005. Ninety-six percent of the cases were found associated with HPV DNA whereas 4% remained HPV negative. High-risk HPV 16/18 genotypes were found in 70% of the cases. HPV 18 was more frequently associated with adenocarcinoma (40.6%) than HPV 16 (10.4%) and found in tumours developed in younger women (mean age, 45.8 years) than HPV 16 (48.3 years) or other HPV types (53.6 years). In multivariate analysis, node involvement (p < 0.0001), parametria invasion (p 5 0.009), tumour size (p 5 0.01) and HPV status (p 5 0.02) were associated with disease-free survival (median follow-up 95 months). Disease outcome was better in tumours associated with intermediate risk HPV types (HPV 31,33,35,39, 52, 53, 58, 59, 73) than in tumours with high oncogenic types (HPV 16, 18, 45) (p 5 0.03). Node status and tumour size remained prognostic factor for overall survival. Our data show that HPV genotype is one of the biological factors associated with the outcome of cervical cancer. One third of invasive carcinoma were not associated with HPV 16/18, indicating that the screening for cervical neoplasia should be maintained after prophylactic vaccination against these HPV genotypes. ' 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Key words: cervical cancer; HPV; prognosis Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA sequences are associated with most of invasive cervical carcinoma worldwide 1 and the role of HPV as a causative agent of cervical neoplasia is well documented. 2 There is a large plurality of HPV types since more than 100 different genotypes have been identified 3 among which more than 40 infect ano-genital mucosa. Histological and virological analyses have shown that 3 groups of genital HPV could be identified according to their oncogenic properties. Low-risk HPVs (HPV6,11,42,43, 44. . .), present in low grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) but rare in invasive cancer, intermediaterisk HPVs (HPV 31,33,35, 51, 52, 58. . .), more prevalent in CIN than in invasive cancer, and high-risk HPVs (HPV16, 18, 45, 56. . .), more frequently found in invasive carcinoma than in CIN. 4 Experimental data have disclosed that high-risk E6 and E7 oncoprotein act in the tumour process by interfering with cell cycle G1-S checkpoint. 5 Virological epidemiology data show that HPV16 and HPV18 are the most prevalent genotypes found in invasive carcinoma worldwide but that there are significant geographic variations in the prevalence of less common genotypes. 6 In the perspective of prophylactic vaccination, it is thus necessary to accurately determine the prevalence of the different HPV types in cervical cancer at country level. Moreover, controversial data...