Comparison of three human papillomavirus DNA assays and one mRNA assay in women with abnormal cytology

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

  • Matejka Rebolj
  • Lynge, Elsebeth
  • Ditte Ejegod
  • Sarah Preisler
  • Carsten Rygaard
  • Jesper Bonde

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical characteristics of four human papillomavirus (HPV) assays: hybrid capture 2 (HC2), cobas, CLART, and APTIMA in Danish women with abnormal cytology.

METHODS: SurePath samples from 367 consecutive women from Copenhagen, with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance or worse, were tested with the four assays. These women were routinely recommended for repeated testing or were referred for colposcopy. Their worst histological diagnosis in 29 months from baseline was retrieved from the Danish National Pathology Data Bank.

RESULTS: Of the 367 women, 16 (4%) had no follow-up, 232 (63%) had <CIN2, 35 (10%) had CIN2, 81 (22%) had CIN3, and 3 (1%) had cervical cancer. The sensitivity for ≥CIN3 was 95% (95% CI: 88-99) for HC2, 94% (95% CI: 87-98) for cobas, 93% (95% CI: 85-97) for CLART, and 87% (95% CI: 78-93) for APTIMA. In women of age above 30 years, the sensitivities were 98% (95% CI: 87-100), 93% (95% CI: 80-98), 90% (95% CI: 77-97), and 93% (95% CI: 80-98), respectively. One woman with cervical cancer tested negative on CLART and one on cobas; HC2 and APTIMA were positive in all three cancer cases. The specificity for <CIN3 was low for all assays and varied between 22% and 35%. Similar results were seen for ≥CIN2.

CONCLUSIONS: Small differences in clinical characteristics were found for the four HPV assays in Danish women with abnormal cytology aged ≥30 years. At younger ages, APTIMA was somewhat less sensitive for high-grade CIN than the three HPV DNA assays.

Original languageEnglish
JournalGynecologic Oncology
Volume135
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)474-80
Number of pages7
ISSN0090-8258
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2014

    Research areas

  • Adult, Cervix Uteri, DNA, Viral, Early Detection of Cancer, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Papillomaviridae, Papillomavirus Infections, RNA, Messenger, Uterine Cervical Dysplasia, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms, Vaginal Smears, Young Adult

ID: 135652977