Non-16/18 high-risk HPV infection predicts disease persistence and progression in women with an initial interpretation of LSIL.

BACKGROUND

The current management strategy for women with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs) is inefficient and expensive because of the inability to identify patients at high risk for disease progression. The current study was designed to determine the genotypic patterns of human papillomavirus (HPV) associated with the persistence and progression of cervical lesions in women with an initial interpretation of LSIL.

METHODS

One hundred sixty-seven women with LSIL on Papanicolaou tests collected between December 1, 2009 and March 30, 2011 were studied. HPV DNA was extracted from residual SurePath specimens, genotypes were determined with a DNA microarray containing 40 HPV genotype probes, and microarray data were confirmed by sequencing. Follow-up Papanicolaou tests and/or biopsies were performed within a 20- to 46-month period after the initial diagnosis.

RESULTS

Ninety-seven of the 167 cases with follow-up results were included in the study. Compared with the women with a regressed cervical lesion, those with a persistent cervical lesion (PCL) were significantly more commonly infected with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) genotypes (P < .01) and particularly with non-16/18 HR-HPV genotypes (P < .05). The PCL group also had a significantly higher average number of HR-HPV genotypes and non-16/18 HPV genotypes per specimen (P < .01). Infection with HPV-16/18 genotypes was not significantly associated with the persistence or progression of cervical lesions.

CONCLUSIONS

Infection with non-16/18 HR-HPV genotypes but not with HPV-16/18 genotypes was a strong predictor of the persistence and progression of cervical disease upon follow-up. Genotyping solely for HPV-16/18 would miss the majority of patients with LSIL who progress to high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions. Pooled HR-HPV tests provide a better predictive value than HPV-16/18 genotyping alone in guiding the clinical management of patients with LSIL.