HPV DNA testing over 50 percent more sensitive than cytology testing

Attila Lorincz, Professor of Molecular Epidemiology at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry is among researchers behind the study which involved over 50,000 women, aged 20-70, undergoing routine cytology and high risk (HR) HPV DNA testing.

All those who tested positive through cytology were referred to colposcopy, while the HPV DNA positive women were followed by repeat HPV DNA testing with colposcopy if they were repeat positive in one year. The study is a pilot implementation to determine the real world performance of routine HPV DNA testing and routine cytology testing in the Mexican IMSS health insurance system.

In women who were both cytology and HPV DNA positive the rate of precancer or cancer was 19.7 per cent whereas the corresponding rate in women who were positive by cytology alone was only 3 per cent. In women who were positive twice for HR HPV DNA (regarded as HPV persistent) the rate of precancer and/or cancers was 11.7 per cent.

Overall the sensitivity of HPV DNA testing for precancers and cervical cancers was 93.3 per cent versus only 40 per cent for cytology testing.

Professor Lorincz said of the results: “The data confirms that HR-HPV DNA testing is much more sensitive than cytology and that HPV testing also identifies women with high risk of serious cervical disease in an efficient and medically acceptable manner.

“The advantage of this new cervical cancer screening approach is that women who are HPV DNA positive can be quickly referred to colposcopy (within one year), thus catching the vast majority of the precancers and cancers. In contrast women who are HPV DNA negative can be safely made subject to much longer screening intervals (5 to 10 years) saving considerable costs for the Mexican health system. “

'A pilot study of HPV DNA and cytology testing in 50,159 women in the routine Mexican Social Security Program,' is published online today (8 July 2010) in Cancer Causes & Control.

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Notes to editors:
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry offers international levels of excellence in research and teaching while serving a population of unrivalled diversity amongst which cases of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, TB, oral disease and cancers are prevalent, within east London and the wider Thames Gateway. Through partnership with our linked trusts, notably Barts and The London NHS Trust, and our associated University Hospital trusts – Homerton, Newham, Whipps Cross and Queen's – the School's research and teaching is informed by an exceptionally wide ranging and stimulating clinical environment.

At the heart of the School's mission lies world class research, the result of a focused programme of recruitment of leading research groups from the UK and abroad and a £100 million investment in state-of-the-art facilities. Research is focused on translational research, cancer, cardiology, clinical pharmacology, inflammation, infectious diseases, stem cells, dermatology, gastroenterology, haematology, diabetes, neuroscience, surgery and dentistry.

The School is nationally and internationally recognised for research in these areas, reflected in the £40 million it attracts annually in research income. Its fundamental mission, with its partner NHS Trusts, and other partner organisations such as CRUK, is to ensure that that the best possible clinical service is underpinned by the very latest developments in scientific and clinical teaching, training and research.