Roche AMPLICOR human papilloma virus (HPV) and LINEAR ARRAY HPV tests will profit from automated DNA extraction.

BACKGROUND: Persistent infection with high risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) types is at the origin of cervical cancer in women and HPV-genotyping is considered to be a valuable tool for risk stratification. Its diagnostic relevance will further increase in the context of HPV vaccination which covers the HR-HPV types 16 and 18 only. For rapid screening and genotyping the commercial Roche AMPLICOR and the Roche LINEAR ARRAY (LA) HPV PCR tests are available. However, the manual DNA extraction procedure recommended by the manufacturer is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To improve workflow we evaluated automated DNA extraction by the MagNA Pure LC (MP-LC). CONCLUSION: The AMPLICOR and the LA HPV tests perform equally well with both extraction methods. The MagNA Pure LC provides an automated alternative for processing HPV clinical specimens coupled with the Roche AMPLICOR and LA HPV tests.