Assessment of the feasibility of pool testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection screening.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic represented a huge challenge for national health systems worldwide. Pooling nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs seems to be a promising strategy, saving time and resources, but it could reduce the sensitivity of the RT-PCR and exacerbate samples management in terms of automation and tracing. In this study, taking advantage of the routine implementation of a screening plan on health workers, we evaluated the feasibility of pool testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosis in the presence of low viral load samples.

Implementation of a centralized HPV-based cervical cancer screening programme in Tuscany: First round results and comparison with the foregoing Pap-based screening programme.

Objective: To evaluate performance of the first round of HPV-based screening in Tuscany region and compare it with the prior round of Pap-based screening.

Setting: Tuscany region of Italy, where HPV-based cervical cancer screening started in 2013, with a strong level of centralization screening tests at the Regional Laboratory for Cancer Prevention (ISPRO).

Methods: The transition from Pap- to HPV-based screening was initiated for older women and at 3 out of 12 Tuscany Local Health Units (LHUs).

Pool testing on random and natural clusters of individuals: Optimisation of SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in the presence of low viral load samples.

Facing the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic requires intensive testing on the population to early identify and isolate infected subjects. During the first emergency phase of the epidemic, RT-qPCR on nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, which is the most reliable technique to detect ongoing infections, exhibited limitations due to availability of reagents and budget constraints. This stressed the need to develop screening procedures that require fewer resources and are suitable to be extended to larger portions of the population.

Human papilloma virus genotyping for the cross-sectional and longitudinal probability of developing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or more.

Human papilloma virus (HPV) testing is more sensitive but less specific than cytology. We evaluated stand-alone genotyping as a possible triage method. During a multicentre randomised controlled trial comparing HPV testing to conventional cytology, HPV-positive women were referred to colposcopy and followed up if no high-grade lesion was detected.

Monitoring vaccine and non-vaccine HPV type prevalence in the post-vaccination era in women living in the Basilicata region, Italy.

Background: A large free-of-charge quadrivalent HPV (qHPV) vaccination program, covering four cohorts annually (women 11, 14, 17 and 24 years), has been implemented in Basilicata since 2007. This study evaluated vaccine and non-vaccine HPV prevalence 5-7 years post-vaccination program implementation in vaccinated and unvaccinated women.

Methods: This population-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in the public screening centers of the Local Health Unit in Matera between 2012 and 2014.

HPV testing for primary cervical screening: Laboratory issues and evolving requirements for robust quality assurance.

This review aims to highlight the importance of Quality Assurance for Laboratories performing HPV test for Cervical Cancer Screening. An HPV test, to be used as primary screening test, must be validated according to international criteria, based on comparison of its clinical accuracy to HC2 or GP5+/6+ PCR-EIA tests. The number of validated platforms is increasing and appropriate Quality Assurance Programs (QAPs) which can interrogate longitudinal robustness and quality are paramount.

Human papillomavirus prevalence in paired urine and cervical samples in women invited for cervical cancer screening.

With the introduction of Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in young girls in 2007, it is important to monitor HPV infections and epidemiological changes in this target population. The present study has evaluated the detection of human papillomavirus DNA in paired cervical and urine samples to understand if HPV testing in urine could be used as non-invasive method to monitor HPV status in young women. The study enrolled 216 twenty five-year-old women, resident in Florence and invited for the first time to the cervical cancer Screening Program within a project evaluating the impact of HPV vaccination.

Age and geographic variability of human papillomavirus high-risk genotype distribution in a large unvaccinated population and of vaccination impact on HPV prevalence.

Background: The prevalence of infections with human papillomavirus (HPV) specific genotypes differs by age and areas. Knowledge of these differences will help predicting how prophylactic HPV vaccination and screening program could best be integrated.

Objectives: To investigate variations in the HPV distribution between areas and ages in Italy and the impact of vaccination on HPV prevalence.

Clinical impact of the analytical specificity of the hybrid capture 2 test: data from the New Technologies for Cervical Cancer (NTCC) study.

The Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) test targets 13 human papillomavirus (HPV) types. Here, cross-reactivity with non-HC2-targeted HPV types is described. We aimed to define the proportion of HC2-positive women who had negative results with HC2-targeted HPV types and estimate its determinants and impact on women's health management.

A cross-sectional study to estimate high-risk human papillomavirus prevalence and type distribution in Italian women aged 18-26 years.

Background: Pre-vaccination information on HPV type-specific prevalence in target populations is essential for designing and monitoring immunization strategies for cervical cancer (CC) prevention. Data on HPV prevalence in Italy are available for women over the age of 24 years, target of the population-based CC screening programmes; while data of HPV prevalence in younger ages are very limited. The present study enrolled Italian women aged 18-26 years in order to assess the prevalence and distribution of high-risk (HR) HPV types.

HPV type distribution in invasive cervical cancers in Italy: pooled analysis of three large studies.

Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of HPV types in invasive cervical cancers in Italy from 1996 to 2008.

Methods: A pooled analysis of the three largest case series typed to date was performed. HPV typing was performed on paraffin-embedded slices.

Distribution of high and low risk HPV types by cytological status: a population based study from Italy.

Background: HPV type distribution by cytological status represents useful information to predict the impact of mass vaccination on screening programs.

Methods: women aged from 25 to 64 who attended cervical cancer screening in five different Italian regions were tested for HPV infection with Hybrid Capture II (HCII) low and high risk probes. Women repeating Pap-test upon unsatisfactory or positive results, or as a post-treatment and post-colposcopy follow-up analysis, were excluded from our study.

Prevalence of human papillomavirus types in high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer in Italy.

Background: The aim of this multicentric study was to identify human papillomavirus (HPV) type distribution in invasive cervical cancer and high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2/3 (CIN2/3) in Italy.

Methods: Cases were sampled through the electronic databases at the pathology units of eight centers in six regions from central and southern Italy. HPV types were detected from paraffin-embedded tissue samples and cervical specimens through amplification of HPV DNA with GP5+/GP6+ primers, followed by genotyping with reverse line blot (RLB).