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Cervical cancer prevention among long-term screening non-attendees by vaginal self-collected samples for hr-HPV mRNA detection

Ernstson, Avalon LU orcid ; Urdell, Annika ; Forslund, Ola LU and Borgfeldt, Christer LU (2020) In Infectious Agents and Cancer 15(1).
Abstract

Background: The efficacy of cervical cancer screening programs is dependent on the participation rate. To increase participation among women not attending cervical cancer screening, self-collected samples for detection of high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) may be an option. The aims of this study were: to investigate the response rate to sending a self-collected vaginal sample for hr-HPV mRNA detection to long-term non-attendees; the compliance with follow-up among women positive for HPV in the self-sample; the prevalence of cervical dysplasia (high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), atypical squamous cells that cannot exclude HSIL (ASC-H) or adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS)) or cancer among the responders; as well as to... (More)

Background: The efficacy of cervical cancer screening programs is dependent on the participation rate. To increase participation among women not attending cervical cancer screening, self-collected samples for detection of high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) may be an option. The aims of this study were: to investigate the response rate to sending a self-collected vaginal sample for hr-HPV mRNA detection to long-term non-attendees; the compliance with follow-up among women positive for HPV in the self-sample; the prevalence of cervical dysplasia (high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), atypical squamous cells that cannot exclude HSIL (ASC-H) or adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS)) or cancer among the responders; as well as to explore reasons for not returning a self-sample. Methods: A vaginal self-sampling kit was sent to 6023 women aged 30-70 years who had not provided a cervical screening sample for ≥7 years in the Region of Skåne, Sweden in November and December 2017. The self-sample was analyzed by Aptima HPV mRNA assay (Hologic). All vaginal self-samples returned no later than May 31, 2018 were included in the study. Follow-up of the results was registered until January 31, 2019 with a follow-up time varying between eight to 14 months. Women positive for hr-HPV mRNA were invited for a follow-up examination. This examination consisted of a cervical sample for cytological analysis and renewed Aptima HPV mRNA testing. Two hundred thirty-five women who had not returned the self-sample were randomly selected for telephone interviews, in order to explore their reasons. Results: The response rate for the self-collected vaginal hr-HPV sample was 13.2% [(797/6023), 95% CI 12.4-14.1%] and 9.9% [(79/796), 95% CI 7.9-12.2%] were positive for hr-HPV mRNA. The prevalence of severe dysplasia or cancer in the whole group of responders was 1.3% [(10/796), 95% CI 0.6-2.3%], with a cervical cancer prevalence of 0.4% [(3/796), 95% CI 0.1-1.1%]. Only 27 women participated in the telephone interviews, no particular reason for not returning self-samples was observed. Conclusions: Self-collected vaginal hr-HPV samples increased participation in the cervical cancer screening among long-term non-attendees. The prevalence of cervical cancer was almost seven times higher for long-term non-attendees than in the organized screening population.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cervical cancer, Human papillomavirus, Long-term non-attendees, Self-sampling
in
Infectious Agents and Cancer
volume
15
issue
1
article number
10
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85081150445
  • pmid:32082413
ISSN
1750-9378
DOI
10.1186/s13027-020-00280-0
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d9c4086f-6cb1-42a2-95f3-3201c83f6907
date added to LUP
2020-03-18 11:16:14
date last changed
2024-05-15 07:52:53
@article{d9c4086f-6cb1-42a2-95f3-3201c83f6907,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: The efficacy of cervical cancer screening programs is dependent on the participation rate. To increase participation among women not attending cervical cancer screening, self-collected samples for detection of high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) may be an option. The aims of this study were: to investigate the response rate to sending a self-collected vaginal sample for hr-HPV mRNA detection to long-term non-attendees; the compliance with follow-up among women positive for HPV in the self-sample; the prevalence of cervical dysplasia (high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), atypical squamous cells that cannot exclude HSIL (ASC-H) or adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS)) or cancer among the responders; as well as to explore reasons for not returning a self-sample. Methods: A vaginal self-sampling kit was sent to 6023 women aged 30-70 years who had not provided a cervical screening sample for ≥7 years in the Region of Skåne, Sweden in November and December 2017. The self-sample was analyzed by Aptima HPV mRNA assay (Hologic). All vaginal self-samples returned no later than May 31, 2018 were included in the study. Follow-up of the results was registered until January 31, 2019 with a follow-up time varying between eight to 14 months. Women positive for hr-HPV mRNA were invited for a follow-up examination. This examination consisted of a cervical sample for cytological analysis and renewed Aptima HPV mRNA testing. Two hundred thirty-five women who had not returned the self-sample were randomly selected for telephone interviews, in order to explore their reasons. Results: The response rate for the self-collected vaginal hr-HPV sample was 13.2% [(797/6023), 95% CI 12.4-14.1%] and 9.9% [(79/796), 95% CI 7.9-12.2%] were positive for hr-HPV mRNA. The prevalence of severe dysplasia or cancer in the whole group of responders was 1.3% [(10/796), 95% CI 0.6-2.3%], with a cervical cancer prevalence of 0.4% [(3/796), 95% CI 0.1-1.1%]. Only 27 women participated in the telephone interviews, no particular reason for not returning self-samples was observed. Conclusions: Self-collected vaginal hr-HPV samples increased participation in the cervical cancer screening among long-term non-attendees. The prevalence of cervical cancer was almost seven times higher for long-term non-attendees than in the organized screening population.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ernstson, Avalon and Urdell, Annika and Forslund, Ola and Borgfeldt, Christer}},
  issn         = {{1750-9378}},
  keywords     = {{Cervical cancer; Human papillomavirus; Long-term non-attendees; Self-sampling}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{Infectious Agents and Cancer}},
  title        = {{Cervical cancer prevention among long-term screening non-attendees by vaginal self-collected samples for hr-HPV mRNA detection}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13027-020-00280-0}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s13027-020-00280-0}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}