Abstract: OBJECTIVE To investigate the phenotype characteristics of human papillomavirus（HPV） antigen-specific CD₈⁺ cytotoxic T lymphocytes（CTL） in peripheral blood of patients with primary and recurrent condyloma acuminatum（CA） and their relationship with HPV DNA. METHODS A total of 90 patients with CA admitted to Haikou People's Hospital from Oct 2017 to Oct 2020 were selected as the study subjects, and divided into 43 cases of initial-onset group and 47 cases of the recurrent group according to the incidence of CA. Thirty patients who underwent circumcision operation or uterine fibroid surgery were included in the control group. The frequency, phenotype and secretion of cytotoxic molecules of HPV16 antigen-specific CD₈⁺ CTL, and HPV DNA levels were measured and compared between the two groups. RESULTS The frequencies and phenotypes of CTL including CD₈⁺ CTL, CD45 RA^-CD27^-effect CTL, CD45 RA^-CD27⁺ central memory CTL, CD45 RA⁺CD27⁺ initial CTL, and CD45 RA⁺CD27^-effect CTL were significantly higher in patients with CA than those in the control group（P＜0.05）, and the frequency and phenotype of the above-mentioned CTLs in the recurrent group were significantly higher than in the initial-onset group（P＜0.05）. CTL secreting cytotoxic molecules such as granzyme B, perforin and factor associated suicide ligand in patients with CA were significantly higher than those in the control group（P＜0.05）, while the levels of CTL secreting cytotoxic molecules in the recurrent group were significantly higher than those in the initial onset group（P＜0.05）. In the initial-onset group and recurrent group, patients with low HPV DNA load had significantly lower CTL frequency and phenotype as well as significantly lower levels of secreted cytotoxic molecules than patients with high HPV DNA load（P＜0.05）. The CTL frequency and phenotype, and the levels of secreted cytotoxic molecules were positively correlated with HPV DNA load in both the initial-onset group and recurrent group（P＜0.05）. CONCLUSION The phenotype of HPV16 antigen-specific CD₈⁺CTL phenotype and the levels of secreted cytotoxic molecules in peripheral blood were closely related to the occurrence and outcome of CA. Moreover, the level changes were related to the level of HPV DNA.