title: HPV-Testing in Follow-up of Patients Treated for CIN2+ Lesions.
abstract: Persistent positivity of HPV-DNA testing is considered a prognostic index of recurrent disease in patients treated for CIN2+. HPV detection, and particularly genotyping, has an adequate high rate of sensitivity and specificity (along with an optimal reproducibility), for accurately predicting treatment failure, allowing for an intensified monitoring activity. Conversely, women with a negative HPV-test 6 months after therapy have a very low risk for residual/recurrent disease, which leads to a more individualized follow-up schedule, allowing for a gradual return to the normal screening scheme. HPV testing should be routinely included (with or without cytology) in post-treatment follow-up of CIN2+ patients for early detection of recurrence and cancer progression. HPV genotyping methods, as a biological indicator of persistent disease, could be more suitable for a predictive role and risk stratification (particularly in the case of HPV 16/18 persistence) than pooled HPV-based testing. However, it is necessary to be aware of the performance of the system, adhering to strict standardization of the process and quality assurance criteria.
authors.affiliation: 1. HPV-UNIT, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.affiliation: 2. Division of Laboratory Medicine, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Sandri
authors.affiliation: 3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology - University of Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Preti
authors.affiliation: 4. Obstetrics and Gynecology Unit, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Origoni
authors.affiliation: 5. MF Toniolo Hospital, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: 6. Villa Montallegro, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cristoforoni
authors.affiliation: 2. Division of Laboratory Medicine, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bottari
authors.affiliation: 1. HPV-UNIT, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sideri
keywords: CIN recurrence; CIN2+; HPV-testing; follow-up; genotyping