Abstract: Objective　To evaluate the detective value of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype 16 and 18 (HPV16,18) in screening cervical lesions.   Methods　By histological biopsy, 209 cases were cancer and percancerous lesions ［cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) Ⅰ, CIN Ⅱ, CIN Ⅲ and invasive cervical cancer］, and 296 cases were inflammation, polyp and other benign lesions. HPV16，18 DNA and liquid-based cytology were used to detect the cases with cancer and percancerous lesions by histological biopsy. Comparing the results of the 2 methods， HPV16，18 infectious rates， sensitivity， specificity and negative predictive value were statistically analyzed. Results　Of 209 patients with cancer and precancerous lesions，158 cases were positive of HPV16，18，and 128 cases were positive of liquid-based cytology ［low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), atypical squamous cells, cannot exclude a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (ASC-H), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) and squamous cell carcinoma］. Among the 296 patients with benign lesions, 43 cases were positive of HPV16,18, and 2 cases were positive of liquid-based cytology. The results of cancer and precancerous lesions showed that the positive rate of HPV16，18 DNA was higher than that of liquid-based cytology (χ²＝12.69，P<0.01). The sensitivity， specificity and negative predictive value of HPV16，18 DNA were 75.6%， 85.5% and 83.2% respectively, and 61.2%, 99.3% and 78.4% of liquid-based cytology. The HPV16,18 positive rate of CIN Ⅱ was obviously higher than that of CINⅠ(χ²＝6.69，P<0.05). Conclusions　The occurrence of cervical cancer and percancerous lesions is closely related to HPV16,18 infection. Compared with liquid-based cytology，HPV16，18 DNA in cervical cancer and percancerous lesions has a higher sensitivity，lower specificity and higher negative predictive value. HPV16，18 DNA has an important clinical value for screening cervical benign lesions, and it is better than liquid-based cytology.

Key words: Human papillomavirus, High-risk human papillomavirus genotype 16 and 18, Liquid-based cytology, Cervical cancer, Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia