Abstract: The pathogeny of cervical cancer is persistent high-risk HPV infection. However，most of HPV infection can be cleared by the host′s immune system，only minority will intergrate into the host′s DNA and transform the epithelial host cells to malignant cells. Together with further genetic and epigenetic alterations of HPV play a role in virus DNA intergration and carcinogenisis. This paper reviewed how HPV epigenetic alterations can affect the expression of papillomaviral as well as the relation to the multistep process of carcinogenesis. HPV DNA methylation level affected the carcinogenisis and progression of cervical cancer. Biomarker roles in clinical diagnosis and prognosis might be assigned to the epigenetic pattern of HPV genes.

Key words: Uterine cervical neoplasms, Human papillomavirus 16, DNA methylation, Gene silencing