[Effectiveness of Different Testing Strategies Applied for Cervical Cancer Screening in Shuangliu District, Chengdu City].

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of different combination strategies of high-risk HPV (hr-HPV) testing and Thinprep cytology test (TCT), a cervical cytology test, for cervical cancer screening, especially for high or higher-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL+) in Shuangliu District, Chengdu City. Methods: The study is a population-based randomized clinical trial. Women aged 35 to 65 years meeting the inclusion criteria were enrolled for the study. At the baseline screening conducted in the first year, the participants were randomly assigned to either cytology test or hr-HPV testing at a ratio of 1∶2. If the paticipants had positive results for the baseline hr-HPV test, they would then undergo either cytology test or colposcopy by random assignment. After 24 months, all participants were called back, and combined screening of cytology test and hr-HPV test were performed. Women who had negative results at baseline screening and who entered and completed the third-year follow-up were selected as the subjects of the study. Based on the aforementioned testing findings, the related data were extracted and four different screening protocols were simulated: 1) combined TCT and hr-HPV screening, with referral for colposcopy when there was positive results for either one of the two; 2) combined TCT and hr-HPV screening, with referral for colposcopy when both tests had positive results at the same time; 3) TCT was done for preliminary screening and those who were found to be positive would then undergo hr-HPV test for triage purpose, with subsequent referral made for colposcopy if the hr-HPV results were positive; 4) hr-HPV was done for preliminary screening and those who were found to be positive would then undergo TCT, with subsequent referral made for colposcopy if TCT results were positive. With the detection of HSIL+ on histological examination as the endpoint event, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and area under curve ( AUC) of different combination screening models were calculated. Results: A total of 3102 women were screened, and 2967 women were included in the statistical analysis in this study. Among the 2967 women, 979 were randomized to cytology and 1988 to hr-HPV genotyping. For prescreening, the positive rate of the cytology group was 5.6% (55/979), with of HSIL+ positive rate being 0.2% (2/979), while the positive rate of the hr-HPV group was 7.5% (149/1988), with HSIL+ positive rate being 0.9% (18/1988). After 24 months, 2456 women were called back and were given cervical cytology test and hr-HPV test at the same time. Among them, the positive rate of the cytology group was 3.2% (78/2456), while the positive rate of hr-HPV group was 8.7% (215/2456). The overall positive rate of HSIL+ was 0.69%(17/2456). Women with a negative baseline hr-HPV had a lower incidence of HSIL+ lesions in the long term. The strategy of cervical cytology screening combined with hr-HPV test for triage purpose is the best method, with a sensitivity of 88.9%, a specificity of 58.3%, a PPV of 44.4%, a NPV of 93.3%, and an AUC of 0.736, P=0.039 (95% CI: 0.555-0.917). Conclusion: This randomized clinical trial from Shuangliu District, Chengdu City shows that the sensitivity of hr-HPV testing is better than that of cytology test, and the prevalence of HSIL+ in women with negative baseline hr-HPV results is lower than that of women with negative baseline cytology results. The screening program of TCT for prescreening plus subsequent hr-HPV test for triage purpose shows better value for the detection of HSIL+.

The Potential Benefits of HPV E6/E7 mRNA Test in Cervical Cancer Screening in China.

This study aims to evaluate the clinical performance of the HPV E6/E7 mRNA test in cervical cancer screening in China. A hospital-based study was conducted with mRNA, DNA, and liquid-based cytology (LBC) as primary screening tests. Each woman with a positive result received colposcopy with lesion-targeted-biopsy. Histopathological diagnosis was used as the gold standard. The total agreement of HPV DNA and mRNA was 90.7% (95%CI: 87.9, 92.9) with a kappa value of 0.81. The positive rates of HPV DNA, mRNA, and LBC increased with the severity of histopathology diagnosis, from 25.5, 19.1, and 11.4% in normal to 100.0% in SCC, respectively. The sensitivities for mRNA to detect CIN2+ and CIN3+ were 93.8% (95%CI: 89.7-96.4) and 95.7% (95%CI: 91.3-97.9), respectively, which were not different from HPV DNA testing (95.7% [95%CI: 92.0-97.7], 96.3% [95%CI: 92.1-98.3]), but higher than LBC (80.4% [95%CI: 74.5-85.2] and 88.8% [95%CI: 83.0-92.8]). The specificities for mRNA to detect CIN2+ (79.0% [95%CI: 74.2-83.0]) and CIN3+ (70.5% [95%CI: 65.7-74.9]) were higher than HPV DNA testing (71.0% [95%CI: 65.9-75.7], 62.8% [95%CI: 57.8-67.5]), but lower than LBC (84.5% [95%CI: 80.1-88.0] 79.8% [95%CI: 75.4-83.6]). All tests were more effective in women older than 30 years. HPV mRNA test showed excellent agreement with the DNA test, with similar sensitivity and a higher specificity in detecting high-grade cervical lesions. It is promising that mRNA test could be used for the national cervical cancer screening to reduce false positive without losing sensitivity.

Potential clinical value of interleukin-31 and interleukin-33 with their receptors expression as diagnostic and predictive factors in endometrial cancer: a case-control study.

Aims: To evaluate the potential role of interleukin-31 and interleukin-33 in diagnosis and prognosis from endometrial cancer. Methods: Tissue samples and clinical data were collected from 260 patients with endometrial cancer and 150 control patients with benign uterine diseases. Immunohistochemistry and ELISA testing quantified the expressions of interleukin-31 and interleukin-33 and their receptors. After surgery, all patients were followed up for an average of 56.3 months. Surgical effects were evaluated based on the patients' symptoms and signs. A two-sided P value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: IL-31, IL-33 and their receptors were significantly accumulated with the progression of endometrial cancer, in comparison to the controls. Moreover, the expressions were correlated with clinical characteristics, including tumor stage, differentiation, and associated with patients' disease-free survival. Conclusions: Limited data was available between the expressions of IL-31 and IL-33 and the receptors in patients with endometrial cancer. Our study findings suggested that the expressions of IL-31 and IL-33 might become possible biomarkers for the diagnosis and prediction in endometrial cancer.

Genome-Wide Profiling of Long Noncoding RNA Expression Patterns in Women With Repeated Implantation Failure by RNA Sequencing.

OBJECTIVES: To compare long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels in endometrium between patients with repeated implantation failure (RIF) following in vitro fertilization (IVF)-embryo transfer and control women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and alignments were performed to identify lncRNAs and mRNAs using endometrial samples collected from 3 patients and 3 control women. A subset of 10 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 6 mRNAs were validated in all participants using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The potential biological roles of identified lncRNAs were predicted via coexpressed mRNA annotations. Twenty patients with RIF and 30 control women were recruited for validation. RESULTS: We identified 1202 differentially expressed genes, including 742 lncRNAs and 460 mRNAs, in mid-secretory phase endometrial tissue from patients with RIF following IVF compared to control women. We analyzed the target genes of the lncRNAs and uncovered 148 lncRNAs corresponding to 147 cis-regulated target genes. The cis-regulated target genes of these significantly differentially expressed lncRNAs were clustered into several pathways, such as the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway, the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, and the NF-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: Our study constitutes the first report on the investigation of the regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs in endometrial receptivity in women experiencing RIF using RNA-seq. Our results provide a valuable candidate reservoir for future functional studies of lncRNAs.

The effect of p16/Ki-67 and p16/mcm2 on the detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: a prospective study from China.

2,067 women who underwent cervical cancer screening were included in this study. p16/Ki-67 and p16/mcm2 were performed on the remaining liquid-based cytology (LBC) samples of 125 HPV-positive women and 114 randomly selected HPV-negative women. Women with HR-HPV infection or cytological abnormalities (≥ASC-US) were referred for colposcopy and biopsy. A third-year follow up visit was performed on all women except for CIN2+. The expression of p16/Ki-67 and p16/mcm2 in the HPV16/18 group and in the other 12 HR-HPV group was significantly higher than that in HPV negative group (P<0.05), with odds ratios (ORs) of 16.27 (95% CI: 4.38-60.47) and 4.52 (95% CI: 2.16-9.45) for p16/Ki-67, and 31.28 (95% CI: 6.33-154.56) and 9.10 (95% CI: 4.52-18.33) for p16/mcm2, respectively. The sensitivities to detect CIN2+ and CIN3 + were 94.1% (95% CI: 73.0-99.0) and 92.9% (95% CI: 68.5-98.7) for p16/Ki-67, and 88.2% (95% CI: 65.7-96.7) and 85.7% (95% CI: 60.1-96.0) for p16/mcm2, respectively. Both the sensitivities of the two biomarkers were significantly higher than that of LBC and HPV16/18 genotyping (P<0.05). The three-year cumulative risks of CIN2+ were 69.0%, 48.4%, 34.8% and 50.0% for p16/Ki-67, p16/mcm, LBC and HPV16/18 genotyping. Women who tested positive on both p16/Ki-67 and p16/mcm2 at baseline had the highest RR value (39.64 [95% CI: 9.78-160.72]) of progressing to CIN2+ when compared to those who were negative for both. To conclude, p16/Ki-67 and p16/mcm2 dual staining can enhance the sensitivity of cytology in a single round of screening, and they can be predictors of high grade cervical lesions in the following years.

p16/Ki-67 co-expression associates high risk human papillomavirus persistence and cervical histopathology: a 3-year cohort study in China.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the association of p16/Ki-67 co-expression and persistence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection as well as cervical abnormalities. METHODS: We performed a 3-year cohort study among which 2498 Chinese women aged 25 to 65 years were screened by different HPV tests in 2011. 690 women who were positive at any of the tests and a random sample of 164 women with all negative results received colposcopy, cervical specimens for cobas HPV test (Roche diagnostics) were collected before colposcopy; of this group, 737 cervical specimens were collected to perform cobas, Liquid-based cytology, HPV E6 test (Arbor Vita Corporation) and p16/Ki-67 dual staining (Roche diagnostics) in 2014. Colposcopy and biopsies was performed on women with any abnormal result. RESULTS: Compared to women without HR-HPV persistent infection, women in the HR-HPV persistence group had a higher risk of p16/Ki-67 positive, with an adjusted Odds Ratio(OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of 6.29 (4.07-9.72); moreover, adjusted odds ratio for women who had HPV16/18 persistent infection was nearly 4-folder higher than women with other 12 HR-HPV persistent infection (adjusted OR = 17.15, 95% CI: 7.11-41.33 vs adjusted OR = 4.68, 95% CI: 2.89-7.58). Additionally, p16/Ki-67 positivity rate significantly increased with the severity of the cytological and histological abnormalities, and resulted strongly associated with a CIN2+ diagnosis (OR = 16.03, 95% CI: 4.46-57.59). CONCLUSIONS: p16/Ki-67 co-expressions associated strongly with HR-HPV persistence, especially with HPV16/18, and the presence of a CIN2+ lesion. Therefore, p16/Ki-67 could be considered as a suitable biomarker for cervical cancer screening, particularly in HPV-based screening programs.

Elevated Expression of Human Papillomavirus-16/18 E6 Oncoprotein Associates with Persistence of Viral Infection: A 3-Year Prospective Study in China.

BACKGROUND: An association between high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) oncoprotein expression and viral persistence has been suggested by the outcome of etiology studies, but there are no epidemiologic studies evaluating that link. METHODS: We performed a 3-year prospective study in which 2,498 Chinese women ages 25 to 65 years were screened by six screening tests, including the Onco E6: Cervical Test (Arbor Vita Corporation) in 2011 (baseline). Six-hundred and ninety women who were positive for any of the tests and a random sample of 164 women with all negative results received colposcopy, and cervical specimens for the cobas 4800 HPV test ("cobas," Roche Molecular Systems) were collected before colposcopy; of this group, 737 cervical specimens were collected to perform cobas and Onco E6: Cervical Test in 2014 (follow-up). Twenty-four cases of HPV16/18 E6 positives and 204 selected controls at baseline, 13 cases of HPV16/18 E6 positive and another 204 selected controls at follow-up were analyzed separately using unconditional logistical regression models to estimate ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Compared with women who were HPV16 E6 oncoprotein negative at baseline, women in the E6-positive group had a much higher risk of HPV persistence (adjusted OR, 54.64; 95% CI, 7.19-415.09) at 3-year follow-up; a statistically strong association was also found between HPV16/18 HPV persistence and E6 oncoprotein expression detected at follow-up (adjusted OR, 360.57; 95% CI, 28.30-4,593.55). CONCLUSIONS: A single detection of HPV16/18 E6 oncoprotein expression was strongly associated with viral persistence. IMPACT: HPV16/18 E6 oncoprotein constitutes a marker for risk of HPV persistence. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(7); 1167-74. ©2016 AACR.

Effectiveness of novel, lower cost molecular human papillomavirus-based tests for cervical cancer screening in rural china.

This study examined the efficacy of the OncoE6™ Cervical Test, careHPV™ and visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) in identifying women at risk for cervical cancer and their capability to detect incident cervical precancer and cancer at 1-year follow-up. In a population of 7,543 women living in rural China, women provided a self-collected and two clinician-collected specimens and underwent VIA. All screen positive women for any of the tests, a ∼ 10% random sample of test-negative women that underwent colposcopy at baseline, and an additional ∼ 10% random sample of test-negative women who did not undergo colposcopy at baseline (n = 3,290) were recruited. 2,904 women were rescreened 1 year later using the same tests, colposcopic referral criteria, and procedures. Sensitivities of baseline tests to detect 1-year cumulative cervical intraepithelial neoplasia Grade 3 or cancer (CIN3+) were 96.5% and 81.6% for careHPV™ on clinician-collected and self-collected specimens, respectively, and 54.4% for OncoE6™ test. The OncoE6™ test was very specific (99.1%) and had the greatest positive predictive value (PPV; 47.7%) for CIN3+. Baseline and 1-year follow-up cervical specimens testing HPV DNA positive was sensitive (88.0%) but poorly predictive (5.5-6.0%) of incident CIN2+, whereas testing repeat HPV16, 18 and 45 E6 positive identified only 24.0% of incident CIN2+ but had a predictive value of 33.3%. This study highlights the different utility of HPV DNA and E6 tests, the former as a screening and the latter as a diagnostic test, for detection of cervical precancer and cancer.

Effect of a group educational intervention on rural Chinese women's knowledge and attitudes about human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccines.

BACKGROUND: Statistics regarding HPV prevalence and cervical cancer rates in rural China are high, however, low levels of HPV awareness and HPV-related knowledge pose a great challenge for cervical cancer control. METHODS: The authors conducted an educational intervention study, which was embedded in a cervical cancer screening project in Yangcheng county, Shanxi Province, China from October to December, 2011 and was designed to assess the short-term effectiveness of a hospital-based, brief, HPV-focused session on rural Chinese women's knowledge and attitudes. Student's t-test was used when comparing quantitative variables. Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact tests was used when comparing qualitative variables. RESULTS: We found that following the intervention, significant increases were detected in awareness regarding HPV (5.9 % vs. 59 %, p < 0.001) and cervical cancer (63.0 % vs. 89.2 %, p < 0.001). Changes were also observed regarding women's intention to vaccinate themselves (82.0 % vs. 89.0 %, p = 0.001) and their daughters (82.9 % vs. 88.0 %, p = 0.011), although the impact was more modest compared with the impact on change of awareness. Among women who were aware of HPV, 60.3 % knew that cervical cancer is related to HPV, while only 5.0 % knew the relationship between HPV and genital warts after the educational intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Educational campaigns, particularly those targeting women with limited education and poor access to public media or other educational channels are needed to improve knowledge regarding HPV in the general population.

p16 Immunohistochemistry Interpretation by Nonpathologists as an Accurate Method for Diagnosing Cervical Precancer and Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: We conducted a pilot study of whether nonpathologists could accurately diagnose cervical precancer in biopsies using only a basic light microscope, evaluating p16 immunohistochemistry (p16 IHC) of biopsies, and video-based training for both. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using biopsies collected as part of a screening study conducted in rural China, we randomly selected 50 biopsies with a precancerous diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN2) or more severe (CIN2+) and 50 biopsies with diagnosis of CIN less severe than CIN2, and stained them for p16 using a commercial IHC kit. Twelve nonpathologists of varying educational backgrounds living in Beijing, China received video training and were assigned one of 4 sets of 25 CIN2+ and 25 CIN less severe than CIN2 for evaluation. A pathologist reviewed all 100 cases. RESULTS: The mean sensitivity and specificity of the p16 IHC staining scored by the nonpathologists were 91.7% and 94.1%, respectively, compared to scoring by the pathologist. The readers and the pathologist agreed on p16 IHC scoring for 42 (84%) of the 50 slides of CIN less severe than CIN2 and 37 (74%) of the 50 CIN2+ slides. The mean sensitivity and specificity for consensus CIN2+ of p16 IHC as scored by the readers were 88% and 87%, respectively, versus an overall sensitivity and specificity by the pathologist of 96% and 92%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that nonpathologists can accurately diagnose CIN2+ using p16 IHC alone.

The Influence of Human Papillomavirus Genotypes on Visual Screening and Diagnosis of Cervical Precancer and Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes on the sensitivity of visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) for screening, and colposcopy for diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN2) or more severe (CIN2+). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Women aged 25 to 65 years from China (n = 7,541) were screened with 6 tests (careHPV and Hybrid Capture 2 on self- and clinician-collected specimens; HPV-16, HPV-18, HPV-45 E6 detection; and VIA). Biopsies from women with a diagnosis of CIN2+ underwent testing for 25 HPV genotypes using SPF10/LiPA. Human papillomavirus genotyping results were classified according to broad categories of cancer risk. RESULTS: Among the 143 women with a diagnosis of CIN2+, the percentage who were HPV16 positive increased with increasing severity of diagnosis: 33.3% for CIN2 (n = 39), 69.1% for CIN3 (n = 94), and 90% for cancer (n = 10). There was a higher percentage of HPV-16 in women with abnormal colposcopic impression (p = .007) and positive VIA (p = .02) than normal colposcopy and negative VIA, respectively. Colposcopy and VIA were more sensitive to detect CIN2+ among HPV-16- and/or HPV-18-positive women than HPV-16-/HPV-18-negative women (67.4% vs 43.1%, p = .008, for colposcopy; and 53.3% vs 37.3%, p = .08, for VIA). CONCLUSIONS: Human papillomavirus type 16 is related to more clear visual acetowhite changes in the epithelium. Therefore, we should expect a reduction of the performance of VIA for cervical cancer screening to identify women with CIN2+, and reduction of the performance of colposcopy to diagnose CIN2+, in vaccinated populations.

The concordance of HPV DNA detection by Hybrid Capture 2 and careHPV on clinician- and self-collected specimens.

BACKGROUND: careHPV is a new, lower-cost DNA test for human papillomavirus (HPV). There are limited analytic comparisons of careHPV against a referent HPV DNA test like Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2). OBJECTIVE: To assess the test agreement between careHPV and HC2 on self- and clinician-collected specimens. STUDY DESIGN: In a population of 7541 women living in rural China, women provided a self-collected (sc) and two clinician-collected (cc) specimens and underwent visual inspection after acetic acid (VIA). The sc specimen and one cc specimen were tested by careHPV and HC2; a random subset of specimens was tested for HPV genotypes. RESULTS: The percent positive on cc specimens and sc specimens was 14.69% and 14.97% for careHPV, respectively, and 15.05% and 18.53% for HC2, respectively; HC2 testing of sc specimens was more likely to test positive than other combinations of tests and specimens (p<0.0001 for all comparisons). The agreement between different tests on the same specimens (kappa=0.787 and 0.691 for cc and sc specimens, respectively) was better than the same test on different specimens (kappa=0.653 and 0.649 for HC2 and careHPV, respectively). Disagreement between the same test on different specimens increased with increasing participant age (ptrend=0.0001 for HC2 and 0.002 for careHPV). HC2-positive/careHPV-negative specimens were more likely to test positive for non-carcinogenic HPV genotype than test HPV negative whereas the converse was true for HC2-negative/careHPV-positive specimens. DISCUSSION: The agreement for HPV DNA detection between careHPV and HC2 was good to very good.

The natural history of cervical cancer in chinese women: results from an 11-year follow-up study in china using a multistate model.

BACKGROUND: It is important to understand the natural history of cervical cancer, which has implications for cancer prevention and management. However, a dearth of studies on the long-term development of cervical cancer exists in China. METHODS: We investigated the natural history of cervical cancer in Chinese women by creating a multistate model using 11 years of follow-up data from the Shanxi Province Cervical Cancer Screening Study I conducted from 1999 to 2010. In 1999, a total of 1,997 eligible women, ages 35 to 45 years, were enrolled in Xiangyuan County, Shanxi Province. Participants were followed up in 2005 and 2010, respectively. RESULTS: The average time a subject spent in CIN1 before transiting into another state was 1.4693 years [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1215-1.9251] and the average time a subject spent in CIN2 was 2.9822 years (95% CI: 1.9790-4.4938). A subject's transition probability from CIN1 to normal increased with time. However, the transition probability from CIN1 to CIN2 was relatively lower, with 3-, 5-, and 10-year transition probabilities of 0.1415, 0.1066, and 0.0437. Comparison of 5-year transition probabilities between CIN2 to normal/CIN1 and CIN2 to CIN3(+) yielded a ratio of 2.74. CONCLUSIONS: Women with CIN1 had a substantial tendency for regression. Similarly, women with CIN2 had a higher probability of regression to normal/CIN1 than progression to CIN3(+). Findings in this study may have significant implications for the development and evaluation of formal cervical cancer preventive strategies in China. IMPACT: This study may serve as a valuable reference to future research on other multistate cancer processes.

Optimal positive cutoff points for careHPV testing of clinician- and self-collected specimens in primary cervical cancer screening: an analysis from rural China.

careHPV, a lower-cost DNA test for human papillomavirus (HPV), is being considered for cervical cancer screening in low- and middle-income countries. However, not a single large-scaled study exists to investigate the optimal positive cutoff point of careHPV test. We pooled data for 9,785 women participating in two individual studies conducted from 2007 to 2011 in rural China. Woman underwent multiple screening tests, including careHPV on clinician-collected specimens (careHPV-C) and self-collected specimens (careHPV-S), and Hybrid Capture 2 on clinician-collected specimens (HC2-C) as a reference standard. The primary endpoint was cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 or more severe (CIN3+) (n = 127), and secondary endpoint was CIN2+ (n = 213). The area under the curves (AUCs) for HC2-C and careHPV-C were similar (0.954 versus 0.948, P = 0.166), and better than careHPV-S (0.878; P < 0.001 versus both). The optimal positive cutoff points for HC2-C, careHPV-C, and careHPV-S were 1.40, 1.74, and 0.85, respectively. At the same cutoff point, careHPV-C was not significantly less sensitive and more specific for CIN3+ than HC2-C, and careHPV-S was significantly less sensitive for CIN3+ than careHPV-C and HC2-C. Raising the cutoff point of careHPV-C from 1.0 to 2.0 could result in nonsignificantly lower sensitivity but significantly higher specificity. Similar results were observed using CIN2+ endpoint. careHPV using either clinician- or self-collected specimens performed well in detecting cervical precancer and cancer. We found that the optimal cutoff points of careHPV were 2.0 on clinician-collected specimens and 1.0 on self-collected specimens.

Comparison of HPV genotypes and viral load between different sites of genital tract: the significance for cervical cancer screening.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the consistency of HPV genotype and viral loads among different sites within the female genital tract, and to correlate these with clinical outcomes. METHODS: 2646 previously unscreened rural women were enrolled in this population-based, cross-sectional study between May 2006 and April 2007. Physician-collected samples from lower vagina, upper vagina, cervix, and one self-collected sample were taken from each woman. Viral load was assessed by HC2 using the relative light unit/cutoff ratio (RLU/CO), and HPV genotyping was tested by Linear Array. RESULTS: The low risk HPV positive rate was highest in lower vagina samples and lowest in cervix samples. Overall kappa values of high risk HPV types between various anatomic sampling sites showed substantial or almost perfect agreement among women with normal pathology, CIN1, and CIN2+. In the CIN2+ population, high risk HPV viral load for cervix samples (557.25 RLU/CO) were much higher than upper vagina samples (96.43 RLU/CO, P<0.001), lower vagina samples (36.51 RLU/CO, P<0.001), and self-collected (206.83RLU/CO, P=0.003) samples. CONCLUSIONS: Although the distribution of high risk HPV genotypes was fairly equivalent across different genital sites, particularly for CIN2+ lesions, viral loads were largely variable. The findings may affect the cervical cancer screening methods using self-collected samples, particularly in resource-challenged areas.

A prospective study of age trends of high-risk human papillomavirus infection in rural China.

BACKGROUND: In China, high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) prevalence is unexpectedly high in older women, but the possible reasons have not been well studied yet. This study investigated the age trends of HR-HPV infection in a prospective study. METHODS: A total of 7397 women aged 25-65 years without cervical precancer or cancer were evaluated during 2010-2011 with a stratified sample of 2791 women re-evaluated after one year. Test results for careHPV and careHPV16/18/45 were used to describe the HR-HPV prevalence, incidence and clearance. Risk factors associated with HR-HPV infections were explored using a logistic regression model. RESULTS: The overall HR-HPV prevalence was 13.1% at baseline, with a peak of 19.3% in women aged 55-59 years. The prevalence of HR-HPV (p for trends < 0.001), HPV16/18/45 (p for trends = 0.002), and HR-HPV other than HPV16/18/45 (p for trends = 0.002) generally increased with increasing age. Number of infections that cleared was generally greater than number of incident infections within age groups. One-year clearance rate decreased with increasing age (p for trends < 0.001), however, incidence rate was unrelated to age (p for trends = 0.159). Risk factors that associated with HR-HPV infection differed between younger and older women. CONCLUSIONS: The greater HR-HPV prevalence in older versus younger women in rural China may be explained by a cohort effect, higher than expected incidence, and/or poorer clearance at older age.

Lower cost strategies for triage of human papillomavirus DNA-positive women.

Using human papillomavirus (HPV) testing for cervical cancer screening in lower-resource settings (LRS) will result in a significant number of screen-positive women. This analysis compares different triage strategies for detecting cervical precancer and cancer among HPV-positive women in LRS. This was a population-based study of women aged 25-65 years living in China (n = 7,541). Each woman provided a self-collected and two clinician-collected specimens. The self-collected and one clinician-collected specimen were tested by two HPV DNA tests-careHPV™ and Hybrid Capture 2; the other clinician-collected specimen was tested for HPV16/18/45 E6 protein. CareHPV™-positive specimens were tested for HPV16/18/45 DNA. HPV DNA-positive women underwent visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and then colposcopic evaluation with biopsies. The performance for detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 or cancer (CIN3+) among HPV DNA-positive women was assessed for different triage strategies: HPV16/18/45 E6 or DNA detection, VIA, colposcopic impression, or higher signal strength (≥10 relative light units/positive control [rlu/pc]). The percent triage positive ranges were 14.8-17.4% for VIA, 17.8-20.9% for an abnormal colposcopic impression; 7.9-10.5% for HPV16/18/45 E6; 23.4-28.4% for HPV16/18/45 DNA; and 48.0-62.6% for higher signal strength (≥10 rlu/pc), depending on the HPV test/specimen combination. The positivity for all triage tests increased with severity of diagnosis. HPV16/18/45 DNA detection was approximately 70% sensitive and had positive predictive values (PPV) of approximately 25% for CIN3+. HPV16/18/45 E6 detection was approximately 50% sensitive with a PPV of nearly 50% for CIN3+. Different triage strategies for HPV DNA-positive women provide important tradeoffs in colposcopy or treatment referral percentages and sensitivity for prevalent CIN3+.

[Role of HPV16/18/45 DNA testing of cervical specimens as a triage testing in cervical cancer screening].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical performance of careHPV16/18/45 DNA testing of cervical specimens as a triage testing for women with positive findings during the cervical cancer screening. METHODS: Eligible women aged 25-65 years were enrolled from two high-risk communities in Yangcheng County,Shanxi Province.After providing written informed consent on a voluntary base,women underwent questionnaire-based interview,gynecological examination,and sample collection.Hybrid capture 2 technology(HC2),careHPV,Avantage HPV E6 test,and visual inspection with acetic acid(VIA)were conducted as the primary screening tests at the enrollment visit.Women with any positive finding were invited to receive a second VIA and colposcopy.careHPV16/18/45 was performed as a triage testing.Any visible lesion under colposcopy was directly biopsied.Women with pathology confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 and worse(CIN2+)were treated with standard procedures. RESULTS: For the self-collected and doctor-collected samples,the application of careHPV16/18/45 as a triage testing decreased the colposcopy referral to 3.2% and 3.1%,respectively.Meanwhile,the sensitivity,specificity,and positive predictive value(PPV)for CIN2+were 50.0%,97.6%,and 26.7% for women with positive self-sampling careHPV results and 63.0%,97.9%,and 34.0% for women with positive doctor-sampling careHPV results. CONCLUSION: careHPV16/18/45 is promising as a triage testing among women with positive screening findings in low-resource settings.

An evaluation of novel, lower-cost molecular screening tests for human papillomavirus in rural China.

New, lower-cost tests that target high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) have been developed for cervical cancer screening in lower-resource settings but large, population-based screening studies are lacking. Women ages 25 to 65 years and living in rural China (n = 7,543) self-collected a cervicovaginal specimen, had 2 cervical specimens collected by a clinician, and underwent visual inspection after acetic acid (VIA). The self- and one clinician-collected specimens underwent HR-HPV DNA testing by careHPV (QIAGEN) and Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2; QIAGEN) and the other clinician-collected specimen was tested for HPV16, 18, and 45 E6 using OncoE6 (Arbor Vita Corporation). Women who screened positive for any test and a random sample of those negative on all tests underwent colposcopic evaluation. The percent test positive was 1.8% for HPV E6 oncoprotein, between 14% and 18% for HR-HPV DNA testing, and 7.3% for VIA. The sensitivity for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 or more severe (CIN3(+); n = 99) was 53.5% for OncoE6, 97.0% for both careHPV and HC2 testing of the clinician-collected specimen, 83.8% for careHPV testing and 90.9% for HC2 testing of the self-collected specimen, and 50.5% for VIA. OncoE6 had the greatest positive predictive value (PPV), at 40.8% for CIN3(+), compared with the other tests, which had a PPV of less than 10%. OncoE6 tested 70.3% positive for HPV16, 18, or 45-positive CIN3(+) and tested negative for all HPV16-, 18-, or 45-negative CIN3(+) (P < 0.0001). HPV E6 oncoprotein detection is useful for identifying women who have cervical precancer and cancer.

[Evaluation of cobas 4800 high-risk HPV test as a tool in cervical cancer screening and cytology triage].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and reliability of cobas 4800 HPV test for cervical cancer screening and cytology referral. METHODS: cobas 4800 HPV test and hybrid capture 2 (HC-2) were used to detect high risk HPV DNA in 670 specimens of liquid-based cytology collected from three hospitals. The agreement between cobas and HC-2 tests was assessed. HPV PCR detection (HybriBio) and gene sequencing were used for genotyping, and the agreement of HPV16 and 18 genotyped by cobas and HybriBio was evaluated. Histological diagnosis was considered as a gold standard to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of cobas vs. HC-2 in detecting CIN2(+) in cervical lesions. RESULTS: The crude agreement between cobas and HC-2 tests was 89.40%, the Kappa value was 0.778, the positive concordance rate was 86.42%, and the negative concordance rate was 91.36%. The crude agreement rates between cobas and HybriBio on HPV16 and 18 were 88.89% and 94.94%, the Kappa values were 0.777 and 0.753, the positive concordance rates were 98.91% and 100.00%, and the negative concordance rates were 78.41% and 94.44%, respectively. HPV PCR detection (HybriBio) and gene sequencing were considered as adjusted standard: the high risk HPV positive concordance rate was 100%, negative coincidence rate was 94.42%, HPV16 and 18 positive concordance rates were both 100%, and negative concordance rates were 82.35% and 94.44%, respectively. Regarding the detection of CIN2(+), the sensitivity and specificity were 91.07% and 70.97% for cobas, and 93.75% and 71.33% for HC-2, with a non-significant difference between the results of the two tests (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: cobas4800 HPV test has good screening sensitivity and specificity in correct detection of HPV16 and 18 and other high-risk HPV virus types.