scholarly journals Visual techniques for cervical cancer screening in Colombia

Biomédica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74
Author(s):  
Óscar Gamboa ◽  
Mauricio González ◽  
Jairo Bonilla ◽  
Joaquín Luna ◽  
Raul Murillo ◽  
...  

Introduction: Direct visual inspection for cervical cancer screening remains controversial, whereas colposcopy-biopsy is considered the gold standard for diagnosis of preneoplastic cervical lesions.Objectives: To determine the rates of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or more and of false positives for colposcopy and direct visual inspection.Materials and methods: Women aged 25-59 underwent direct visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), Lugol’s iodine (VIA-VILI), and colposcopy. Punch biopsies were obtained for all positive tests. Using histology as the gold standard, detection and false positive rates were compared for VIA, VIA-VILI, and colposcopy (two thresholds). Sensitivity and false positive ratios with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals were estimated.Results: We included 5,011 women in the analysis and we obtained 602 biopsies. Positivity rates for colposcopy high-grade and low-grade diagnosis were 1.6% and 10.8%. Positivity rates for VIA and VIA-VILI were 7.4% and 9.9%. VIA showed a significantly lower detection rate than colposcopy with low-grade diagnosis as the threshold (SR=0.72; 95% CI 0.57-0.91), and significantly lower false positive rate (FPR=0.70; 95% CI 0.65-0.76). No differences between VIA-VILI and colposcopy low-grade threshold were observed. VIA and VIA-VILI showed significantly higher detection and false positive rates than colposcopy high-grade threshold. Sensitivity rates for visual inspection decreased with age and false positive rates increased. For all age groups, false positive rates for VIA and VIA-VILI were significantly higher than colposcopy.Conclusions: Detection rates for VIA-VILI similar to colposcopy low-grade threshold represent a chance to reduce cervical cancer mortality through see-and-treat approaches among women with limited access to health care. Lower detection rates suggest reviewing high-grade colposcopy findings as the threshold for biopsy in certain settings.

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Wentzensen ◽  
Magnus von Knebel Doeberitz

In industrialized countries, population wide cytological screening programs using the Pap test have led to a substantial reduction of the incidence of cervical cancer. Despite this evident success, screening programs that rely on Pap-stained cytological samples have several limitations. First, a number of equivocal or mildly abnormal test results require costly work up by either repeated retesting or direct colposcopy and biopsy, since a certain percentage of high grade lesions that require immediate treatment hide among these unclear test results. This work up of mildly abnormal or equivocal cytological tests consumes a large amount of the overall costs spent for cervical cancer screening. Improved triage of these samples might substantially reduce the costs. Cervical cancer is induced by persistent infections with oncogenic human papilloma viruses (HPV). While HPV infection is an indispensable factor, it is not sufficient to cause cancer. The majority of acute HPV infections induce low grade precursor lesions that are cleared spontaneously after several months in more than 90% of cases, and less than 10% eventually progress to high grade lesions or invasive cancer. Progression is characterized by the deregulated expression of the viral oncogenes E6 and E7 in infected basal and parabasal cells. Novel biomarkers that allow monitoring these essential molecular events in histological or cytological specimens are likely to improve the detection of lesions that have a high risk of progression in both primary screening and triage settings. In this review, we will discuss potential biomarkers for cervical cancer screening with a focus on the level of clinical evidence that supports their application as novel markers in refined cervical cancer screening programs.


PLoS Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. e1003528
Author(s):  
Helen A. Kelly ◽  
Admire Chikandiwa ◽  
Bernard Sawadogo ◽  
Clare Gilham ◽  
Pamela Michelow ◽  
...  

Background Cervical cancer screening strategies using visual inspection or cytology may have suboptimal diagnostic accuracy for detection of precancer in women living with HIV (WLHIV). The optimal screen and screen–triage strategy, age to initiate, and frequency of screening for WLHIV remain unclear. This study evaluated the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of different cervical cancer strategies in WLHIV in Africa. Methods and findings WLHIV aged 25–50 years attending HIV treatment centres in Burkina Faso (BF) and South Africa (SA) from 5 December 2011 to 30 October 2012 were enrolled in a prospective evaluation study of visual inspection using acetic acid (VIA) or visual inspection using Lugol’s iodine (VILI), high-risk human papillomavirus DNA test (Hybrid Capture 2 [HC2] or careHPV), and cytology for histology-verified high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2+/CIN3+) at baseline and endline, a median 16 months later. Among 1,238 women (BF: 615; SA: 623), median age was 36 and 34 years (p < 0.001), 28.6% and 49.6% ever had prior cervical cancer screening (p < 0.001), and 69.9% and 64.2% were taking ART at enrolment (p = 0.045) in BF and SA, respectively. CIN2+ prevalence was 5.8% and 22.4% in BF and SA (p < 0.001), respectively. VIA had low sensitivity for CIN2+ (44.7%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 36.9%–52.7%) and CIN3+ (56.1%, 95% CI 43.3%–68.3%) in both countries, with specificity for ≤CIN1 of 78.7% (95% CI 76.0%–81.3%). HC2 had sensitivity of 88.8% (95% CI 82.9%–93.2%) for CIN2+ and 86.4% (95% CI 75.7%–93.6%) for CIN3+. Specificity for ≤CIN1 was 55.4% (95% CI 52.2%–58.6%), and screen positivity was 51.3%. Specificity was higher with a restricted genotype (HPV16/18/31/33/35/45/52/58) approach (73.5%, 95% CI 70.6%–76.2%), with lower screen positivity (33.7%), although there was lower sensitivity for CIN3+ (77.3%, 95% CI 65.3%–86.7%). In BF, HC2 was more sensitive for CIN2+/CIN3+ compared to VIA/VILI (relative sensitivity for CIN2+ = 1.72, 95% CI 1.28–2.32; CIN3+: 1.18, 95% CI 0.94–1.49). Triage of HC2-positive women with VIA/VILI reduced the number of colposcopy referrals, but with loss in sensitivity for CIN2+ (58.1%) but not for CIN3+ (84.6%). In SA, cytology high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion or greater (HSIL+) had best combination of sensitivity (CIN2+: 70.1%, 95% CI 61.3%–77.9%; CIN3+: 80.8%, 95% CI 67.5%–90.4%) and specificity (81.6%, 95% CI 77.6%–85.1%). HC2 had similar sensitivity for CIN3+ (83.0%, 95% CI 70.2%–91.9%) but lower specificity compared to HSIL+ (42.7%, 95% CI 38.4%–47.1%; relative specificity = 0.57, 95% CI 0.52–0.63), resulting in almost twice as many referrals. Compared to HC2, triage of HC2-positive women with HSIL+ resulted in a 40% reduction in colposcopy referrals but was associated with some loss in sensitivity. CIN2+ incidence over a median 16 months was highest among VIA baseline screen-negative women (2.2%, 95% CI 1.3%–3.7%) and women who were baseline double-negative with HC2 and VIA (2.1%, 95% CI 1.3%–3.5%) and lowest among HC2 baseline screen-negative women (0.5%, 95% CI 0.1%–1.8%). Limitations of our study are that WLHIV included in the study may not reflect a contemporary cohort of WLHIV initiating ART in the universal ART era and that we did not evaluate HPV tests available in study settings today. Conclusions In this cohort study among WLHIV in Africa, a human papillomavirus (HPV) test targeting 14 high-risk (HR) types had higher sensitivity to detect CIN2+ compared to visual inspection but had low specificity, although a restricted genotype approach targeting 8 HR types decreased the number of unnecessary colposcopy referrals. Cytology HSIL+ had optimal performance for CIN2+/CIN3+ detection in SA. Triage of HPV-positive women with HSIL+ maintained high specificity but with some loss in sensitivity compared to HC2 alone.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huma Farid

Since the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear became implemented as a screening tool for cervical cancer, the mortality from cervical cancer has sharply declined in the United States. The discovery of the human papillomavirus (HPV) as the causative agent in the progression from dysplasia of the cervix to cervical cancer has changed the types of screening offered to women and the management of abnormal Pap smears. The management of abnormal Pap smears has changed depending on the age of the woman, with women under the age of 24 years being managed more conservatively given the low rates of cervical cancer in this age group and the high rates of regression of HPV and cytologic abnormalities. Colposcopy remains the first line in evaluation of an abnormal Pap smear, with excisional treatment reserved for high-grade dysplasias with a high risk of progression to cervical cancer. Treatment for cervical dysplasia is highly effective, but even after treatment, there is an increased risk of recurrence or progression to cervical cancer for up to 20 years, and these women should be followed closely. This review contains 18 figures, 3 tables and 53 references Key words: cervical cancer screening, high-grade cervical dysplasia, human papillomavirus, low-grade cervical dysplasia, management of abnormal Pap smears, Pap smear, recurrence of cervical dysplasia, treatment of dysplasia


2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucybeth Nieves ◽  
Christine L. Enerson ◽  
Suzanne Belinson ◽  
Jennifer Brainard ◽  
Andres Chiesa-Vottero ◽  
...  

ObjectiveMexican Cervical Cancer Screening Study II (MECCS II) seeks to develop a highly sensitive and highly specific screening program able to be adapted to all socioeconomic levels in Mexico. The objectives of MECCS II are (1) to compare the sensitivity and specificity for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 3 or cancer of self-collected vaginal specimens tested for high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) by APTIMA with those tested for HR-HPV by Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2); and (2) determine the efficacy of cryotherapy in the treatment of HR-HPV–positive and acetic acid–aided visual inspection (VIA)–positive and -negative women after VIA triage.MethodsThe study was conducted in rural Mexico. Women aged 30 to 50 years, nonpregnant, with no history of hysterectomy or pelvic irradiation and varied histories of screening, participated. A direct endocervical sample was tested for cytology, HC2, and APTIMA assay (AHPV). Subjects positive on any test were recalled for triage VIA, biopsies, and immediate cryotherapy. Tests were compared using McNemar test.ResultsTwo thousand forty-nine patients have complete results. Mean age of the patients was 39.2 years; 7.7% presented with ≥atypical squamous cells of uncertain significance (ASCUS), 1.8% ≥low-grade squamous intraepithelial neoplasia, and 0.5% ≥high-grade squamous intraepithelial neoplasia. Two percent of patients had ≥CIN2, and 0.78% had ≥CIN3 (including 2 with invasive disease). The sensitivity of ThinPrep (>ASCUS), HC2, and AHPV for >CIN3 for direct endocervical collection was 87.5%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. The specificity of ThinPrep (>ASCUS), HC2, and AHPV for >CIN3 was 94.1%, 92.2%, and 93.5%, respectively. Specificities of HC2 and AHPV differed significantly. The overall percentage of agreement among HPV assays (HC2 vs APTIMA) is 97%. Four hundred sixty-nine women returned for VIA. Two hundred ninety-one women were treated with cryotherapy.ConclusionsThe specificity of the APTIMA assay along with high sensitivity is an advantage for primary screening. Follow-up evaluation will be important to determine the true impact of potential undertreatment in the screening algorithm. Self-sampling applications are explored.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Dong ◽  
Jigeng Bai ◽  
Yuping Zhang ◽  
Guangjie Shang ◽  
Yan Zhao ◽  
...  

Purpose: In China the number of pathologists is far from being enough to meet the demands of ongoing population based cervical cancer screening programs. This article aims to present our experience with automated quantitative cytology imaging platform, a reading system with an artificial intelligence that we currently use routinely for cervical cancer screening in Shanxi province.Methods: From 2012-2016 a total of 40 178 women were screened. Women were divided into three groups and each group had two subgroups. Smear and liquid based technique were compared using manual and automated platform.Results: Detection rates of CIN2 + and positive rates of CIN2 were higher in all three groups when automated quantitative cytology platform was used compared with groups where reading was done by the pathologist using conventional microscope. Operator’s costs associated with automated quantitative cytology platform vs. conventional reading using light microscope were compared too. The overall costs of operations based on automated platform were proven to be lower.Conclusion: The use of automated platform and artificial intelligence as a means to overcome the lack of cytotechnologists and pathologists and to implement proper quality control in the large scale population based cervical cancer screening seems very promising.


2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (6) ◽  
pp. E743-E750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Marie Tebeu ◽  
Joël Fokom-Domgue ◽  
Victoria Crofts ◽  
Emmanuel Flahaut ◽  
Rosa Catarino ◽  
...  

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