p16INK4a immunohistochemistry in cervical biopsy specimens: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the interobserver agreement.
OBJECTIVE
The interpretation of cervical biopsy specimens guides management of women with suspected cervical cancer precursors. However, morphologic evaluation is subjective and has low interobserver agreement. Addition of p16(INK4a) immunohistochemistry may improve interpretation.


METHODS
We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data on interobserver agreement of p16(INK4a) positivity using p16(INK4a) immunohistochemistry and of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN2+) and CIN grade 3 (CIN3+) classification using H&E morphology in conjunction with p16(INK4a) in comparison with H&E morphology alone.


RESULTS
The literature search revealed five eligible articles. The results show strong agreement of pathologists' interpretation of cervical biopsy specimens as p16(INK4a) positive or negative (pooled κ = 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.88-0.92) and significantly higher agreement for a CIN2+ diagnosis with H&E morphology in conjunction with p16(INK4a) (κ = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.67-0.79) compared with H&E morphology alone (κ = 0.41; 95% CI, 0.17-0.65). Also, a slightly higher agreement for CIN3+ can be observed (κ = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.39-0.94 for H&E morphology in conjunction with p16(INK4a) and κ = 0.61; 95% CI, 0.44-0.78 for H&E morphology alone), but this difference was not statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
The published literature indicates improved interobserver agreement of the diagnosis of CIN2+ with the conjunctive use of H&E morphology with p16(INK4a) immunohistochemistry compared with H&E morphology alone.
From the Department of Applied Tumor Biology, Institute of Pathology, University of Heidelberg and Clinical Cooperation Unit, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany; reuschenbach@med.uni-heidelberg.de.
Miriam
M
Reuschenbach
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD;
Nicolas
N
Wentzensen
Department of Pathology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and.
Maaike G
MG
Dijkstra
From the Department of Applied Tumor Biology, Institute of Pathology, University of Heidelberg and Clinical Cooperation Unit, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany;
Magnus
M
von Knebel Doeberitz
Unit of Cancer Epidemiology, Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium.
Marc
M
Arbyn
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015588:Observer Variation; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16
Agreement; Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; Histopathology; Reproducibility; p16INK4a