Role of HPV DNA, HPV mRNA and cytology in the follow‐up of women treated for cervical dysplasia

The aim of this study was to assess the role of cytology, human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA and human papilloma virus messenger RNA (HPV mRNA) assays in detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2+ (CNi 2+) (recurrences/persistence) during the follow‐up of women after treatment of cervical intraepithelial lesion. This cross‐sectional study was performed among 43 women treated for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) between January 2014 and January 2017 at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Spedali Civili's Hospital, Brescia, Italy. Pap smear and cervical samples for HPV tests were collected during the follow‐up visit. Furthermore, colposcopy was always performed in order to find out the persistence/recurrence of the disease. A cervical biopsy was collected when necessary. Cervical samples obtained were tested for HPV DNA using the INNO‐LiPa HPV assay and for HPV mRNA using the APTIMA assay. The mean age of enrolled women was 42.5 years. Among the treated patients, more than 50% of women revealed the absence of high risk HPV DNA and HPV mRNA. We found the persistence of the disease cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN 2) only in one woman. The sensitivity of cytology, HPV DNA and HPV mRNA in detecting disease was satisfactory (100%), while the specificity was quite different for the three tests: 64.2, 52.4 and 78.9%, respectively. The HPV mRNA test has higher specificity with respect to cytology and HPV DNA, avoiding the referral to unnecessary colposcopy with an improvement of costs/benefits for healthcare system. However, given the small size sample, this study should be considered as a pilot for future larger studies.