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Screening test for cervical cancer prevention may be useful in limited-resource regions
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In regions with limited resources, the new careHPV test may be useful as a primary screening method for cervical cancer prevention.
In a cross-sectional analysis, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, McMaster University in Canada and other sites in the United States and Europe, analyzed the accuracy of careHPV in rapid screening at two county hospitals in rural China.
The careHPV test was performed using cervical specimens from a screening population-based cohort of 2,530 women aged between 30 and 54 years. Visual inspection with acetic acid, Digene High-Risk HPV HC2 DNA Test, liquid-based cytology and colposcopy were performed on all participants.
The researchers obtained complete data for 2,388 women.
Seventy women had mild or severe cervical dysplasia (CIN2+); 23 of these women also had carcinoma-in-situ (CIN3+). The researchers used CIN2+ as a reference standard and area-under-the-curve analysis with a two-sided alpha error level of 0.0083. Based on this, the careHPV sensitivity was 90% and specificity was 84.2% on cervical specimens.
On vaginal specimens, the sensitivity was 81.4% and the specificity was 82.4% (P=.0596), compared with 41.4% sensitivity and 94.5% specificity for visual inspection with acetic acid.
For cervical specimens, Digene High-Risk HPV HC2 DNA Test had sensitivity of 97.1% and specificity of 85.6%.
“The careHPV test is promising as a primary screening method for cervical cancer prevention in low-resource regions,” the researchers wrote.
Lancet Oncol. 2008;9:929-936.