High risk HPV testing for cervical cancer screening in a Puerto Rican population

• Published in: Gynecologic oncology reports Vol. 48; p. 101236
• Main Authors: Gustafson, Erik A., Santa Rosario, Juan C., Rios-Bedoya, Carlos, de Socarraz, Mariano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.08.2023; Elsevier
• Subjects: Cervical cancer screening; Co-testing; Cytology; High grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), Puerto Rico; High Risk Human Papillomavirus; Short Communication; Cervical cancer screening; High grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), Puerto Rico; High Risk Human Papillomavirus; Cytology; Co-testing
• ISSN: 2352-5789; 2352-5789
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gore.2023.101236

•HPV prevalence in Puerto Rico is high in 21–30 year age group.•Screening with high-risk HPV performs as well as cytology or co-testing for HSIL.•HPV testing as sole cervical cancer screening could increase compliance rates in Puerto Rico without compromising quality. The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer, the fourth most common cause of death in women in the United States (US). Several major screening clinical trials have demonstrated that high risk HPV (HR-HPV) DNA primary screen is more sensitive at determining the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia level 3 or higher (CIN ≥ 3) than cytology alone and is similar to co-testing. In this cross-sectional study, we characterized a Hispanic population of 18,052 women ages 21–70 years with HR-HPV DNA testing and cytology to determine the prevalence of HR-HPV in the population and determine the likelihood of high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL). We also compared cytology, HR-HPV DNA testing, and co-testing strategies to determine sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for HSIL in cervical biopsies. Results show that HR-HPV had a slightly higher sensitivity (94.2% vs 92.3%) compared to cytology for all high-grade disease (CIN2/3).