Abstract
Given the strong etiologic link between high-risk HPV infection and cervical cancer high-risk HPV testing is now being considered as an alternative for cytology-based cervical cancer screening. Many test systems have been developed that can detect the broad spectrum of hrHPV types in one assay. However, for screening purposes the detection of high-risk HPV is not inherently useful unless it is informative for the presence of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2/3) or cancer. Candidate high-risk HPV tests to be used for screening should reach an optimal balance between clinical sensitivity and specificity for detection of high-grade CIN and cervical cancer to minimize redundant or excessive follow-up procedures for high-risk HPV positive women without cervical lesions. Data from various large screening studies have shown that high-risk HPV testing by hybrid capture 2 and GP5+/6+-PCR yields considerably better results in the detection of CIN 2/3 than cytology. The data from these studies can be used to guide the translation of high-risk HPV testing into clinical practice by setting standards of test performance and characteristics. On the basis of these data we have developed guidelines for high-risk HPV test requirements for primary cervical screening and validation guidelines for candidate HPV assays.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 516-520 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | International Journal of Cancer |
Volume | 124 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1-Feb-2009 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Adult
- Female
- Guidelines as Topic
- Humans
- Mass Screening/methods
- Papillomavirus Infections/complications
- Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Sensitivity and Specificity
- Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/diagnosis
- Uterine Cervical Dysplasia/diagnosis