Efficacy of human papillomavirus-based screen-and-treat for cervical cancer prevention among HIV-infected women.
BACKGROUND
Cervical cancer prevention should be provided as part of primary healthcare services for HIV-infected women but conventional screening programs are difficult to implement in low-resource settings. Here, we evaluate the efficacy among HIV-infected women of a simpler, screen-and-treat strategy in which all women with a positive screening test are treated with cryotherapy.


METHODS
We conducted a randomized clinical trial of two screen-and-treat strategies among 6555 women in Cape Town, South Africa, among whom 956 were HIV-positive. Women were randomized to screen-and-treat utilizing either human papillomavirus DNA testing or visual inspection with acetic acid as the screening method or to a control group. Women were followed for up to 36 months after randomization with colposcopy and biopsy to determine the study endpoint of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or higher.


RESULTS
In the control group, HIV-positive women had higher rates of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or higher detected by 36 months (14.9%) than HIV-negative women (4.6%) (P = 0.0006). Screen-and-treat utilizing human papillomavirus DNA testing significantly reduced cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or higher through 36 months in both HIV-positive (relative risk = 0.20, 95% confidence interval 0.06-0.69) and HIV-negative women (relative risk = 0.31, 95% confidence interval 0.20-0.50). Reductions in the visual inspection with acetic acid-and-treat group were less marked. Complications of cryotherapy were mostly minor and did not differ in frequency between HIV-positive and HIV-negative women.


CONCLUSIONS
Screen-and-treat using human papillomavirus testing is a simple and effective method to reduce high-grade cervical cancer precursors in HIV-infected women.
Kuhn
Louise
L
Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA. lk24@columbia.edu
Wang
Chunhui
C
Tsai
Wei-Yann
WY
Wright
Thomas C
TC
Denny
Lynette
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003127:Colposcopy / Q000191:economics; D017679:Cryotherapy / Q000191:economics; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015995:Prevalence; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*
D004279:DNA, Viral