Adjunctive high-risk human papillomavirus DNA testing is a useful option for disease risk assessment in patients with negative Papanicolaou tests without an endocervical/transformation zone sample.
BACKGROUND
Current guidelines recommend that women with negative Papanicolaou (Pap) test results and no endocervical/transformation zone (EC/TZ) sample return for screening within 12 months. For some women, this represents earlier follow-up than advocated in several routine screening guidelines. Controversy remains with regard to the correlation between sampling of the EC/TZ, Pap test quality, and disease risk assessment.


METHODS
A retrospective study was conducted reviewing the results from 143,438 liquid-based cervical Pap tests performed at a large academic women's hospital between July 2005 and December 2006. Vaginal Pap tests were excluded from the study. Women with any Pap result, women with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs), and patients with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) Pap test results were stratified by 10-year age groups and according to the presence or absence of an EC/TZ sample (EC/TZS). Women with LSIL and HSIL Pap test results with and without an EC/TZS were also compared for rates of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) DNA detection.


RESULTS
Of the total of 143,438 cervical Pap tests performed, 27,359 (19.1%) were reported to be lacking an EC/TZS. The absence of an EC/TZS was found to be highest in adolescents and in mature women aged >or=50 years. The overall detection rate of LSIL was 4.29% and that of HSIL was 0.64%. Both the LSIL and HSIL rates were found to be significantly higher in Pap tests with an EC/TZS compared with Pap tests without an EC/TZS (LSIL: 4.51% vs 3.37% and HSIL: 0.72% vs 0.29%). However, when women with LSILs and HSILs were divided into a group in which EC/TZS was present and a group in which EC/TZS was absent, no significant differences were found to be present with regard to hrHPV DNA rates between the 2 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Adjunctive hrHPV DNA testing is effective in stratifying risk for the presence of SIL in women with and without an EC/TZS. This finding is consistent with recently reported data from >9000 patients with negative Pap results, which found that hrHPV DNA-positive test rates are independent of the presence or absence of an EC/TZS. hrHPV DNA results provide a useful new optional adjunctive tool for the objective stratification of disease risk in women with negative Pap tests and no EC/TZS.
Zhao
Chengquan
C
Department of Pathology, Magee-Womens Hospital, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 300 Halket Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. zhaoc@UPMC.edu
Austin
R Marshall
RM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000473:pathology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014626:Vaginal Smears
D004279:DNA, Viral