Publications by authors named "K Cuschieri"

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common infection of the anogenital tract. Although most infections clear, persistent infections with oncogenic types can predispose to cancer. While the natural history of anogenital HPV infection in cisgendered women is relatively well understood, there are significant knowledge gaps regarding HPV prevalence and clinical implications of genital HPV infection in transgender women (TGW) with neovagina(s).

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Background: Self-sampling is now a key component within HPV-based cervical screening programmes to engage individuals and enhance participation. As self-sampling is relatively new, information on the influence of pre-analytical parameters such as transit-temperature and time between sampling and testing on HPV test results requires detailed investigation.

Methods: FLOQSwabs® and Evalyn Brushes® were used to assess HPV and cellular stability over a 30-week period (0w,4w,12w,30w) at 4 °C, ambient, and 37 °C.

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Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing of self-collected vaginal samples has potential to improve coverage of cervical screening programmes, but current guidelines mostly require those HPV positive on a self-sample to attend for routine screening.

Methods And Findings: A pragmatic modified stepped-wedge implementation feasibility trial was conducted at primary care practices in England. Individuals aged 25 to 64 years who were at least 6 months overdue for cervical screening could provide a self-collected sample.

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The introduction of self-sampling in cervical cancer screening has raised the importance of HPV test validation on self-collected samples. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical accuracy of the OncoPredict HPV Screening (SCR) assay on self-collected vaginal and first-void urine (FVU) samples, relative to cervical specimens, using the VALHUDES Framework. FVU and vaginal self-samples followed by a clinician-collected cervical brushing were collected from 500 women referred to colposcopy and tested using OncoPredict HPV SCR assay.

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Article Synopsis
  • The VALHUDES initiative aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of self-collected urine and vaginal samples for detecting cervical precancers compared to traditional clinician-collected cervical samples using the OncoPredict HPV Quantitative Typing assay.
  • A study involving 490 women showed that the clinical sensitivity for detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2+) was comparable between self-collected samples and cervical samples, but specificity was lower for both self-collection methods.
  • After optimizing the testing criteria, the OncoPredict HPV QT assay showed similar accuracy in diagnosing cervical precancers from self-collected samples as from clinician-collected cervical samples.
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