Utility of extended HPV genotyping for the triage of self-sampled HPV-positive women in a screen-and-treat strategy for cervical cancer prevention in Cameroon: a prospective study of diagnostic accuracy

• Published in: BMJ open 2022-12, Vol.12 (12), p.e057234
• Main Authors: Broquet, Celine, Vassilakos, Pierre, Ndam Nsangou, François Marcel, Kenfack, Bruno, Noubom, Michel, Tincho, Evelyn, Jeannot, Emilien, Wisniak, Ania, Petignat, Patrick
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ablation; Biopsy; Cameroon; Cellular biology; Cervical cancer; Cervix; community gynaecology; Disease prevention; Early Detection of Cancer; epidemiology; Female; Genotype; gynaecological oncology; Histopathology; Human papillomavirus; Human Papillomavirus Viruses; Humans; Iodine; Medical diagnosis; Medical screening; Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Papillomaviridae - genetics; Papillomavirus Infections; Prospective Studies; public health; Sociodemographics; Triage; Uterine Cervical Dysplasia - diagnosis; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - diagnosis; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - pathology; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - prevention & control; Vagina
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057234

ObjectiveTo explore the utility of extended Human Papillomavirus (HPV) genotyping to detect cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or more (CIN2+) in a ‘screen-and-treat’ strategy for HPV-positive women in low-resource settings.DesignProspective study of diagnostic accuracy.SettingThe study took place in West Cameroon between September 2018 and March 2020.Participants2014 women were recruited. Asymptomatic, non-pregnant women aged 30–49 years without history of CIN treatment, anogenital cancer or hysterectomy were eligible.InterventionsParticipants performed self-sampling for HPV testing with GeneXpert followed by visual inspection with acetic acid and Lugol’s iodine (VIA) triage before treatment if required.Main outcome measuresLiquid-based cytology, biopsies and endocervical brushing were performed in HPV-positive women as quality control. We assessed the detection rate of CIN2+ by HPV genotyping (two pools of genotypes obtained from the Xpert system, pool_1 (HPV 16, 18, 45) and pool_2 (HPV 16, 18, 45, 31, 33, 35, 52, 58)), VIA and cytology.Results382 (18.2%) women were HPV-positive among which 11.5% (n=44) were CIN2+. Of those 44 participants, 41 were triaged positive by extended genotyping, versus 35 by VIA and 33 by cytology. Overall, triage positivity was of 68.4% for extended genotyping, 59.3% for VIA and 14.8% for cytology, with false positive rates of 83.4%, 84.1% and 37.7%, respectively. Extended genotyping had a higher sensitivity for CIN2+ detection (93.2%, CI: 81.3 to 98.6) than VIA (79.5%, CI: 64.7 to 90.2, p=0.034) and cytology (75.0%, CI: 59.7 to 86.8, p=0.005). No significant difference was observed in the overtreatment rate in triaged women by extended genotyping or VIA (9.9%, CI: 8.6 to 11.3, and 8.8%, CI: 7.7 to 10.1), with a ratio of 6.0 and 6.3 women treated per CIN2+ diagnosed.ConclusionTriage of HPV-positive women with extended HPV genotyping improves CIN2+ detection compared with VIA with a minor loss of specificity and could be used to optimize the management of HPV-positive women.Trial registration numberNCT03757299.