See-and-treat approaches to cervical cancer prevention for HIV-infected women

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 RNA Genital Tract Shedding After Cryotherapy for Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia in Western Kenya

This prospective study of 39 women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on antiretroviral therapy in Western Kenya aimed to quantify genital tract HIV-1 RNA (GT-HIV RNA) shedding before and after cryotherapy for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Most GT-HIV RNA shedding was detected precryotherapy, suggesting that cryotherapy was not the primary cause of shedding.

National Policies to Prevent and Manage Cervical Cancer in East African Countries: A Policy Mapping Analysis

Policy mapping is used to provide evidence on effective interventions and highlight the necessary refinements of health policies. The goal of this work is to carry out legal mapping to identify and assess health policies for the prevention and management of cervical cancer in East African countries. Cervical cancer, as a largely preventable disease, is the cause of most cancer deaths among women in East African countries. Legal documents were searched uniformly from government websites, national cancer institute sites, and international and national legal databases, then the data were analyzed using the Nvivo12 software package. The sample of 24 documents includes policies, plans, guidelines, acts, and strategies from 12 East African countries. The emerging themes were screening, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, challenges, and mitigation efforts. A few binding policies, a significant discrepancy to international standards in at least four countries, patchy screening registries, and a lack of prophylactic vaccination against human papillomavirus incorporation into national immunization schedules are the main findings. This paper underlies the role of law in health and the need for transparent legal and regulatory tools to achieve a further reduction in cervical cancer mortality in East African countries.

Clinical Performance Validation of 4 Point-of-Care Cervical Cancer Screening Tests in HIV-Infected Women in Zambia

OBJECTIVES

We sought to determine the clinical performance of visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), digital cervicography (DC), Xpert human papillomavirus (HPV), and OncoE6 for cervical cancer screening in an HIV-infected population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

HIV-infected women 18 years or older were included in this cross-sectional validation study conducted in Lusaka, Zambia. The screening tests were compared against a histological gold standard. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and odds ratios using cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN 2+) and grade 3 or worse (CIN 3+) thresholds.

RESULTS

Between January and June 2015, a total of 200 women were enrolled. Fifteen percent were screen positive by VIA, 20% by DC, 47% by Xpert HPV, and 6% by OncoE6. Using a CIN 2+ threshold, the sensitivity and specificity of VIA were 48% (95% CI = 30%-67%) and 92% (95% CI = 86%-95%), respectively. Similarly, the sensitivity and specificity of DC were 59% (95% CI = 41%-76%) and 88% (95% CI = 82%-93%), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of Xpert HPV were 88% (95% CI = 71%-97%) and 60% (95% CI = 52%-68%), respectively. Finally, the sensitivity and specificity of OncoE6 were 31% (95% CI = 16%-50%) and 99% (95% CI = 97%-100%), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

VIA and DC displayed moderate sensitivity and high specificity. Xpert HPV performed equivalently to currently approved HPV DNA tests, with high sensitivity and moderate specificity. OncoE6 displayed excellent specificity but low sensitivity. These results confirm an important role for VIA, DC, and Xpert HPV in screen-and-treat cervical cancer prevention in low- and middle-income countries, such as Zambia.

Predictors of default from follow-up care in a cervical cancer screening program using direct visual inspection in south-western Nigeria

Background

Increasingly evidence is emerging from south East Asia, southern and east Africa on the burden of default to follow up care after a positive cervical cancer screening/diagnosis, which impacts negatively on cervical cancer prevention and control. Unfortunately little or no information exists on the subject in the West Africa sub region. This study was designed to determine the proportion of and predictors and reasons for default from follow up care after positive cervical cancer screen.

Method

Women who screen positive at community cervical cancer screening using direct visual inspection were followed up to determine the proportion of default and associated factors. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine independent predictors of default.

Results

One hundred and eight (16.1%) women who screened positive to direct visual inspection out of 673 were enrolled into the study. Fifty one (47.2%) out of the 108 women that screened positive defaulted from follow-up appointment. Women who were poorly educated (OR: 3.1, CI: 2.0 – 5.2), or lived more than 10 km from the clinic (OR: 2.0, CI: 1.0 – 4.1), or never screened for cervical cancer before (OR: 3.5, CI:3:1–8.4) were more likely to default from follow-up after screening positive for precancerous lesion of cervix . The main reasons for default were cost of transportation (48.6%) and time constraints (25.7%).

Conclusion

The rate of default was high (47.2%) as a result of unaffordable transportation cost and limited time to keep the scheduled appointment. A change from the present strategy that involves multiple visits to a “see and treat” strategy in which both testing and treatment are performed at a single visit is recommended.

Cervical cytological changes in HIV-infected patients attending care and treatment clinic at Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

BACKGROUND

Tanzania is among Sub-Saharan countries mostly affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic, females being more vulnerable than males. HIV infected women appear to have a higher rate of persistent infection by high risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) strongly associated with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) and invasive cervical carcinoma. Furthermore, although HIV infection and cervical cancer are major public health problems, the frequency and HIV/HPV association of cervical cancer and HSIL is not well documented in Tanzania, thus limiting the development of preventive and therapeutic strategies.

METHODS

A prospective unmatched, case-control study of HIV-seropositive, ≥ 18 years of age and consenting non-pregnant patients attending the care and treatment center (CTC) at Muhimbili National Hoospital (MNH) as cases was done between 2005 and 2006. HIV seronegative, non-pregnant and consenting women recruited from the Cervical Cancer Screening unit (CCSU) at ORCI were used as controls while those who did not consent to study participation and/or individuals under < 18 years were excluded. Pap smears were collected for routine cytodiagnosis and P53 immunohistochemistry (IHC). Cervical lesions were classified according to the Modified Bethesda System.

RESULTS

A total of 170 participants from the two centers were recruited including 50 HIV-seronegative controls were from the CCSU. Ages ranged from 20-66 years (mean 40.5 years) for cases and 20-69 years (mean 41.6 years) for controls. The age group 36-45 years was the most affected by HIV (39.2%, n = 47). Cervicitis, squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) and carcinoma constituted 28.3% (n = 34), 38.3% (n = 46) and 5.8% (n = 7) respectively among cases, and 28% (n = 14), 34% (n = 17) and 2% (n = 1) for controls, although this was not statistically significant (P-value = 0.61). IHC showed that p53 was not detectable in HPV + Pap smears and cell blocks indicating possible degradation.

CONCLUSIONS

The frequency of SIL and carcinoma appeared to be higher among HIV-infected women on HAART compared to seronegative controls and as expected increased with age. HIV seropositive patients appeared to present earlier with SIL compared to those HIV seronegative suggesting a role of HIV in altering the natural history of HPV infection and cervical lesions. The absence of p53 immunoreactivity in HPV + lesions is indicative of the ability of HPV E6 proteins to interact with the tumor suppressor gene and pave way for viral-induced oncogenesis in the studied Tanzanian women.