Abstract: Objective To assess the significance of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA detection in the pelvic lymph nodes in cervical cancer. Methods HPV L1 gene fragment was amplified by HPV-specific PCR with general consensus primers from cervical cancer tissues. The types of HPV were identified by sequencing of the PCR product. The relationship between HPV positivity and pathological findings in metastatic pelvic lymph nodes of cervical cancer was analyzed. Results The positivity rate of HPV DNA was 40% in the pelvic lymph nodes in 40 cases of cervical cancer. HPV DNA was detected in the pelvic lymphatic nodes of all the 10 cases with pathologically confirmed lymph node metastasis of cervical cancer. HPV18 was detected in both of cervical and pelvic lymph nodes in some cases. Conclusions HPV DNA can be detected in the pelvic lymph nodes before pathological identification of lymph node metastasis and indicates early pelvic lymph node metastasis of cervical cancer. The presence of HPV18 often indicates high likeliness of lymph node metastasis and suggests poor prognosis of the patients.