Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been widely implicated in cervical carcinogenesis, but it appears to be an early event, with other genetic abnormalities being required for biological transformation. In this study, interphase cytogenetic analysis of numerical abnormalities of chromosomes 11, 17 and X was performed on paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 25 invasive squamous-cell carcinomas of the cervix and compared with both histopathological features and the morphological distribution of HPV sequences as determined by in situ hybridisation. Numerical differences between chromosomes were identified in 76% of cases, with underrepresentation of chromosomes 11 and/or 17 relative to X in 64% of the total; 22 of 25 cases were HPV-positive, containing either HPV 16, 18 or 31. There was no relationship between the distribution of viral sequences and chromosomal pattern, suggesting that HPV infection precedes karyotypic changes. Our findings suggest that relative reduction in number of chromosomes 11 and 17 is important in the development of invasive cervical neoplasia and are consistent with the putative presence of relevant tumour-suppressor genes on these chromosomes.