Human Papillomavirus Genotyping to Predict the Risk of Cervical Precancerous Lesions or Cancer in Women with Minor Abnormal Cytology in China.

Objective: To evaluate the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotyping in predicting the risk of cervical precancerous lesions or cancer in women with minor abnormal cytology.

Methods And Materials: This study was conducted on 329 women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) and 77 women with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) out of a total of 4,215 participants in a multicenter, cross-sectional study. Liquid-based cytology and the Hybrid Capture 2 test (HC2) were used to screen eligible women, and a Linear Array HPV genotyping test was performed on women with positive HC2 results.

Results: The sensitivity and specificity for detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) based on HPV 16/18 were 82% [95% confidence interval (CI): 52-95%] and 91% (95% CI: 87-94%) in women with ASC-US and 67% (95% CI: 35-88%) and 84% (95% CI: 73-91%) in women with LSIL. The women infected with HPV 16/18 had a significantly higher risk of developing CIN2+ than those infected with other high-risk HPV types in both the ASC-US (OR 9.93, 95% CI: 2.02-48.88) and LSIL (OR 7.45, 95% CI: 1.60-34.68) arms.

Conclusions: Genotyping for HPV 16/18 greatly improves specificity, but at the expense of potential sensitivity in the triage of minor cytology abnormalities. The role of genotyping for HPV 16/18 in order to triage women with minor abnormal cytology should be further evaluated in future studies.