Is cervical cytology testing as a part of co-test unnecessary for HPV 16/18-infected women? A retrospective cohort study of 1647 women.

BACKGROUND

We aimed to present the biopsy results of women with HPV 16/18 infection and investigate whether cytology is necessary as a part of routine cervical cancer screening in women with HPV 16/18.

METHODS

This is a retrospective cohort study conducted on 1647 patients between the ages of 30 and 65 years with HPV 16/18 undergoing colposcopy-guided biopsy at a tertiary gynecological cancer center between January-2016 and January-2019. We compared the preinvasive lesion rates and the invasive cervical cancer rates of women with HPV 16/18 between the negative and the abnormal cytology group.

RESULTS

Of the 1647 women, 1105 (67.1%) had negative cytology and 542 (32.9%) had abnormal cytology. Among women with initial negative cytology, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2+ lesion was detected in 205 (18.6%) women. The rate of CIN 2+ lesion in women with abnormal cytology was 28%. There was a significant difference between negative and abnormal cytology group in terms of CIN 2+ lesion rates (P < .001). Among women with initial negative cytology, invasive cervical cancer was detected in 6 (0.5%) women. The rate of invasive cervical cancer in women with abnormal cytology was 8 (1.5%). There was no significant difference between negative and abnormal cytology group in terms of invasive cervical cancer rates (P = .082).

CONCLUSIONS

The rate of cervical cancer among HPV 16/18-infected women with negative cytology is similar to women with abnormal cytology. Based on the results of this study, Pap testing could be unnecessary in HPV 16/18-infected women to diagnose invasive cervical cancer who will undergo colposcopy biopsy.