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OBJECTIVE To determine the association between viral load of human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) DNA in the primary focus of cervical carcinoma and HPV16 DNA in pelvic lymph nodes. METHODS The HPV16 DNA load was measured by fluorescent quantisation polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) in 17 primary foci. HPV16 DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using HPV16 type-specific primers in 296 pelvic lymph nodes which were from 17 cases of cervical cancer. RESULTS The viral load of HPV16 DNA showed statistically significant differences between tumors with a diameter of < 4 cm and > 4 cm (P < 0.05). Seven of 17 cervical cancer cases had HPV16 DNA positive lymph nodes, designated as the positive group, while the remaining 10 without positive lymph nodes was designated the negative group. The average load of HPV16 DNA showed no significant difference between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). The load of HPV16 in the primary lesion was not associated with that in the lymph nodes. There were 38 HPV16 DNA positive nodes in the total 296 nodes. The rate of positivity of HPV16 DNA in lymph nodes showed statistically significant differences in consideration of maximum tumor diameter, tumor differentiation, histologic type, depth of myometial infiltration and the metastatic status of the nodes, respectively (P < 0.05).CONCLUSION Viral load of HPV16 in the primary cancer focus correlated with the quantity of tumor cells in the primary focus but not with the existence of HPV DNA positive lymph nodes. Detection of HPV DNA may help to find the early metastases that cannot be evaluated histopathologically but the prognostic value of HPV positive lymph nodes needs further examination.