Guidelines for HPV-DNA Testing for Cervical Cancer Screening in Brazil.

Evidence-based clinical guidelines ensure best practice protocols are available in health care. There is a widespread use of human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid (HPV-DNA) tests in Brazil, regardless of the lack of official guidelines. On behalf of the Brazilian Association for the Lower Genital Tract Pathology and Colposcopy (ABPTGIC, in the Portuguese acronym), a team of reviewers searched for published evidence and developed a set of recommendations for the use of HPV-DNA tests in cervical cancer screening in Brazil. The product of this process was debated and consensus was sought by the participants. One concern of the authors was the inclusion of these tests in the assessment of women with cytologic atypia and women treated for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Testing for HPV is recommended in an organized screening scenario to identify women with precursor lesions or asymptomatic cervical cancer older than 30 years of age, and it can be performed every 5 years. It also has value after the cytology showing atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs) as a triage test for colposcopy, in the investigation of other cytological alterations when no abnormal findings are observed at colposcopy, seeking to exclude disease, or, further, after treatment of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, to rule out residual disease.

O uso de diretrizes clínicas baseadas em evidências visa assegurar as melhores práticas na área de cuidado à saúde. O uso de testes de ácido desoxirribonucleico de papilomavírus humano (DNA-HPV) vem crescendo e se disseminando sem que existam recomendações de uso no cenário brasileiro. Em nome da Associação Brasileira de Patologia do Trato Genital Inferior e Colposcopia (ABPTGIC), grupos de revisores pesquisaram evidências e formularam recomendações para o uso dos testes de DNA-HPV no rastreamento do câncer do colo do útero, no seguimento de mulheres com atipias citológicas, e após tratamento de neoplasia intraepitelial cervical (NIC). O produto desse processo foi debatido e foi buscado consenso entre participantes. Os testes de DNA-HPV são recomendados num cenário de rastreamento organizado para identificação de mulheres portadoras de lesões precursoras ou câncer assintomático com mais de 30 anos e podem ser realizados a cada 5 anos. Também têm valor após a citologia mostrando células escamosas atípicas de significado indeterminado (ASC-US) ou lesão intraepitelial escamosa de baixo grau (LSIL) como teste de triagem para colposcopia, na investigação de outras alterações citológicas quando não são observados achados anormais à colposcopia, buscando excluir doença, ou, ainda, no seguimento após tratamento das neoplasias intraepiteliais de alto grau, para exclusão de doença residual.

Guidelines for HPV-DNA testing for cervical cancer screening in Brazil / Recomendações para o uso de testes de DNA-HPV no rastreamento do câncer do colo útero no Brasil

Abstract Evidence-based clinical guidelines ensure best practice protocols are available in health care. There is a widespread use of human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid (HPVDNA) tests in Brazil, regardless of the lack of official guidelines. On behalf of the Brazilian Association for the Lower Genital Tract Pathology and Colposcopy (ABPTGIC, in the Portuguese acronym), a team of reviewers searched for published evidence and developed a set of recommendations for the use of HPV-DNA tests in cervical cancer screening in Brazil. The product of this process was debated and consensus was sought by the participants. One concern of the authors was the inclusion of these tests in the assessment of women with cytologic atypia and women treated for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Testing for HPV is recommended in an organized screening scenario to identify women with precursor lesions or asymptomatic cervical cancer older than 30 years of age, and it can be performed every 5 years. It also has value after the cytology showing atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs) as a triage test for colposcopy, in the investigation of other cytological alterations when no abnormal findings are observed at colposcopy, seeking to exclude disease, or, further, after treatment of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, to rule out residual disease.

Resumo O uso de diretrizes clínicas baseadas em evidências visa assegurar as melhores práticas na área de cuidado à saúde. O uso de testes de ácido desoxirribonucleico de papilomavírus humano (DNA-HPV) vem crescendo e se disseminando sem que existam recomendações de uso no cenário brasileiro.Emnomeda Associação Brasileira de Patologia doTrato Genital Inferior e Colposcopia (ABPTGIC), grupos de revisores pesquisaram evidências e formularamrecomendações para o uso dos testes de DNA-HPV no rastreamento do câncer do colo do útero, no seguimento de mulheres com atipias citológicas, e após tratamento de neoplasia intraepitelial cervical (NIC). O produto desse processo foi debatido e foi buscado consenso entre participantes. Os testes de DNA-HPV são recomendados num cenário de rastreamento organizado para identificação de mulheres portadoras de lesões precursoras ou câncer assintomático com mais de 30 anos e podem ser realizados a cada 5 anos. Também têm valor após a citologia mostrando células escamosas atípicas de significado indeterminado (ASC-US) ou lesão intraepitelial escamosa de baixo grau (LSIL) como teste de triagempara colposcopia, na investigação de outras alterações citológicas quando não são observados achados anormais à colposcopia, buscando excluir doença, ou, ainda, no seguimento após tratamento das neoplasias intraepiteliais de alto grau, para exclusão de doença residual.

Vaginal delivery and low immunity are strongly associated with high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in a high-risk population.

OBJECTIVE: To test the association between high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), including CIN 2 and CIN 3, and the main risk factors established in the literature, such as age, early onset of sexual activity, use of hormonal contraception, smoking, sexually transmitted diseases, immunosuppression, the number of deliveries, and abortions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study using medical records of 531 women examined for a period of 2 years in a referral center in southern Brazil. RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression analysis confirmed the following risk factors for high-grade CIN: smoking (odds ratio [OR] = 1.92, with 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.13-3.27), immunosuppression (OR = 3.45, 95% CI = 1.61-7.43), abortion (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.07-4.35) and 2 or more abdominal deliveries (OR = 3.46, 95% CI = 1.90-6.27). CONCLUSIONS: Cervical cancer screening should give special attention to the women with the above profile of risk factors by shortening the time interval between the screens.

High grade CIN diagnosis by combined visual inspection with Lugol's iodine and cytology in symptomatic women.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the diagnostic performance of combining the visual inspection with Lugol's iodine (VILI) and cytology screening to detect high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN-2 or CIN-3) in symptomatic women, using histological examination as the standard reference test. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional referral study utilizing secondary data from 538 medical records from a clinic specialized in cervical pathology in Brazil. RESULTS: Although the sensitivity reached 96.8%, the specificity was only 8.1%, with positive predictive value of 18.3% and negative predictive value of 92.3%. CONCLUSION: The combination of both tests proved to be highly sensitive, leading to a large decrease in the false negative results. This was achieved, however, at the cost of an excess in the rate of false positive results, thus making the combination unviable for screening in symptomatic women.