Natural history of persistent high-risk human papillomavirus infections in Korean women.
OBJECTIVE
This prospective study was performed to evaluate the clearance of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and incidence of cytologic abnormality and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) during the follow-up of persistent infection in Korean women.


METHODS
A total of 4170 women who were screened for cervical cancer, were aged 30 years or older, had no abnormal last Pap smear results for 3 years, had no history of treatment for cervical neoplastic disease, and were not pregnant were analyzed for high-risk HPV prevalence using the Hybrid capture (HC) II assay. The 224 women with normal cytology but positive for high-risk HPV DNA using the HC-II assay were analyzed for their clearance of HPV infection.


RESULTS
The median time to clearance in women with initially normal cytology was 7.5 months from initial detection (95% CI, 5.2-9.8 months). There were significant differences in the median time to clearance (4.5 vs. 14.5 months, p<0.001) of high-risk HPV infection between women with the initial relative light unit/cutoff (RLU/CO) ratio values <10.0 and >or=10.0, as determined by the HC-II assay. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, probability of development of cytologic abnormalities, CIN and high-grade CIN was 38.2%, 21.7% and 8.5% respectively at 24 months of persistent high-risk HPV infection.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence and clearance of high-risk infection in Korean women was similar to that in Western countries. Persistent high-risk HPV infection was associated with high viral load.
Bae
Jaeman
J
Center for Uterine Cancer, National Cancer Center, 111 Jungbalsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, 410-769, Republic of Korea.
Seo
Sang-Soo
SS
Center for Uterine Cancer, National Cancer Center, 111 Jungbalsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, 410-769, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ssseomd@ncc.re.kr.
Park
Young-Soo
YS
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Seoul National University Hospital, 28 Yongun-dong, Seoul, 110-744, Republic of Korea.
Dong
Seung-Myung
SM
Research Institute, National Cancer Center, 111 Jungbalsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, 410-769, Republic of Korea.
Kang
Sokbom
S
Center for Uterine Cancer, National Cancer Center, 111 Jungbalsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, 410-769, Republic of Korea.
Myung
Seung-Kwon
SK
Center for Cancer Prevention and Detection, National Cancer Center, 111 Jungbalsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, 410-769, Republic of Korea.
Park
Sang-Yoon
SY
Center for Uterine Cancer, National Cancer Center, 111 Jungbalsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, 410-769, Republic of Korea.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000235:genetics; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D019562:Viral Load; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*
D004279:DNA, Viral