title: Usefulness of HPV testing in the follow-up of untreated cervical low grade lesions.
abstract: The aim of the present work was to evaluate the usefulness of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) testing for the follow-up of women with untreated low grade cervical squamous cell lesions (LSIL). For that, 412 women with a cytological diagnosis of LSIL at entry were monitored by cytology, HR-HPV testing with the Hybrid Capture II assay (HC-II) and colposcopy. Our primary endpoint was clinical progression defined by the presence of a high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2 and CIN3) at the biopsy. At baseline, histological control revealed 10 CIN2 and 11 CIN3 only in the cohort of women HR-HPV+. In the follow-up, 4 CIN2 and 8 CIN3 were detected, always in the women initially HR-HPV+. Thus, the recurrence of a HR-HPV+ infection clearly selects a population at high-risk for CIN2-3. The semi-quantitative appreciation of the viral load with HC-II could not be used as a good prognostic factor for the follow-up of women with LSIL. HR-HPV testing reduces the number of cytology and colposcopy examinations in the follow-up of women aged >35 years when HPV testing is initially negative. Thus HR-HPV testing should be reserved for the follow-up of this population of women initially HR-HPV+ and proposed 6 to 12 months after the cytological diagnosis of LSIL.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Pol Bouin, CHU de Reims, France. cclavel@chu-reims.fr
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clavel
authors.forename: J-P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bory
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caudroy
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lorenzato
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Durlach
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Graesslin
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quereux
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Birembaut
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D004727:Endothelium / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D012307:Risk Factors; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology