Abstract: The infection with human papillomavirus（HPV） in women genital tract is common, and the persistent infection of high-risk type HPV is the major cause of cervical cancer. The main purpose of HPV testing is to determine whether there is a high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia（ＣＩＮ） or cancer, rather than an infection itself，though various methods are available for HPV testing. The four HPV assays approved by the Food and Drug Administration（FDA） for cervical cancer screening are hybrid capture 2 HPV (HC2-HPV)，Cervista HPV，Cobas HPV and Aptima HPV. Above assays were demonstrated to have similar sensitivity and specificity for the detection of high-grade CIN. The current clinical applications of HPV testing in obstetrics and gynecology were included：①to screen cervical cancer and precursors by sole HPV testing or the HPV testing combined with cytopathology; ②to triage cervical lesions for women with cytopathological abnormalities；③to follow-up visit for women after treatment or women with abnormal screening results. The HPV primary screening is as effective as the combined screening, and that the testing times are less when compared with the combined screening. However，the HPV primary screening has lower specificity than the cervical cytopathology. Moreover, some women with cervical cancer may be misdiagnosed by an HPV-only screening. It is necessary to explore how to apply the HPV testing to the best advantage in the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer.

Key words: Uterine cervical neoplasms, Carcinoma, Papillomaviridae, Cytological techniques