Tumor tissues from 29 women with borderline or malignant epithelial ovarian tumors were examined for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR analysis used a set of consensus primers that are complementary to highly conserved sequences in the genital HPVs (M. M. Manos, Y. Ting, D. K. Wright, A. J. Lewis, T. R. Broker, and S. M. Wolinsky, Cancer Cells 7, 209-214, 1989). Amplification products were detected by Southern hybridization with consensus oligonucleotide probes. A total of 70 paraffin-embedded tissue sections from ovarian carcinomas were tested and we did not detect genital-type HPV DNA sequences in any of these specimens. However, all of the tissue specimens were considered adequate for PCR analysis because a human cellular gene (beta-globin) was successfully amplified in each tissue specimen. In addition, HPV 16 DNA was found in a concurrent invasive squamous-cell carcinoma of the cervix from one ovarian cancer patient, indicating that the PCR was able to detect HPV in the lower genital tract of this individual. We conclude that there is no association between infection with the most common genital HPVs and borderline and malignant epithelial ovarian tumors.