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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Feb 5.
Published in final edited form as: Oral Oncol. 2014 Jun 2;50(9):771–779. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2014.05.004

Table 1.

Comparison of PCR-based techniques and in situ hybridization for detection of HPV DNA in clinical samples.

HPV detection assay
PCR-based DNA ISH
Tissue substrate More efficient on frozen tissue Optimized for formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues
Sensitivity Very high (<1 viral copy per host genome) High (up to 1 viral copy per host genome)
Specificity Suboptimal - susceptible to viral contaminant or “passenger virus” High
Tissue context Not perceptible Visualization of viral distribution in tissues
Transferability Restricted to the molecular laboratory Available to the surgical pathology laboratory
Confirmation of clinical relevance Poor Superb