Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in immunosuppressed women after renal transplantation

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)- and Non-HIV-Associated Immunosuppression and Risk of Cervical Neoplasia

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2, 2-3, 3, adenocarcinoma in situ, or cancer (CIN 2 or worse) among women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- and non-HIV-associated immunosuppression.

METHODS

We performed a case-control study of 20,146 women with incident CIN 2 or worse and 5:1 age-matched, incidence-density selected women in a control group (n=100,144) enrolled in an integrated health care system from 1996 to 2014. Adjusted rate ratios (RRs) from conditional logistic regression were obtained for HIV status (stratified by CD4 T-cells), solid organ transplant history, and immunosuppressive medication use.

RESULTS

Risk of CIN 2 or worse was increased among women with HIV (n=36 women in the case group and 79 women in the control group; adjusted RR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3-3.0) compared with those without HIV and in solid organ transplant recipients (n=51 women in the case group and 68 women in the control group; RR 3.3, 95% CI 2.3-4.8) compared with women without a prior transplant. The highest risks were among women with HIV and less than 200 CD4 T-cells/microliter (n=9 women in the case group and eight women in the control group; RR 5.6, 95% CI 2.1-14.7) compared with those without HIV and in solid organ transplant recipients prescribed three or greater immunosuppressive medication classes (n=32 women in the case group and 33 women in the control group; RR 4.1, 95% CI 2.5-6.8) compared with women without a prior transplant and zero medication classes. No increased risks were observed for women with HIV and 500 or greater CD4 T-cells/microliter (n=9 women in the case group and 43 women in the control group; RR 0.8, 95% CI 0.4-1.7) compared with those without HIV or women without prior solid organ transplantation prescribed two or fewer immunosuppressive medication classes (n=1,262 women in the case group and 6,100 women in the control group; RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.89-1.01) compared with women without and a prior transplant and zero medication classes.

CONCLUSION

Risk of CIN 2 or worse is increased in women with a prior solid organ transplant or who have HIV and CD4 cells/microliter less than 500 but not in women with HIV and higher CD4 levels or in women without a prior solid organ transplant but who are prescribed only one or two immunosuppressive medication classes.

Comparison of Pap Smear and Colposcopy in Screening for Cervical Cancer in Patients with Secondary Immunodeficiency

Introduction

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. The sensitivity of conventional Pap smear in detecting cervical lesions before cervical cancer is 51%, which means the false negative value is 49%. The aim of this study was to compare two methods for screening for cervical cancer in patients with secondary immunodeficiency, i.e., the conventional Pap smear and colposcopy.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 101 immunodeficient patients who were referred to the Gynecologic Clinic at Shahid Sadughi Hospital in Yazd from March 2011 to August 2012. All patients underwent the Pap test, a colposcopy, and a cervical biopsy, with the latter being considered as the gold-standard test.

Results

The most frequency of immunodeficiency was noted among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (53.3%), and this was followed by patients who were undergoing chemotherapy (30.7%), patients with lupus erythematosus (12.9%), and patients with AIDS (3%). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of the Pap smear were 18.2, 98.5, 85.5, 71.3, and 72.2%, respectively. The respective values for colposcopy were 66.7, 98.94, 80, 97.9, and 97%, respectively.

Conclusion

In this study the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive values of colposcopy were higher than those for the Pap smear in detecting high-grade, cervical, pre-malignant lesions (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: CIN ≥ 2). Therefore, an annual colposcopy is advised for secondary immunodeficient patients instead of a Pap smear.

Lack of association between cervical dysplasia and IBD: a large case-control study

BACKGROUND

It has been variously reported that women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have an increased risk of cervical dysplasia. We aimed to assess in a large, accurately phenotyped, case-controlled population whether women with IBD had increased rates of abnormal cervical smears and if this was affected by immunosuppressant therapy or disease phenotype.

METHODS

Women with IBD diagnosed prior to the age of 60 were studied at a single tertiary referral center in Scotland. Full cervical smear histories were available on 411 women (204 Crohn's disease, 207 ulcerative colitis, median age at diagnosis 28.4 years, median current age 44.1 years). All the cases were matched 1:4 to healthy controls (n = 1644) from the same geographical location.

RESULTS

There was no difference in rates of abnormal smears between patients with IBD (80.5% negative, 10.5% low-grade, and 9.0% high-grade dysplasia) and controls (85.4%, 7.7%, and 6.9%, P = 0.37). The use of immunosuppressant therapy had no impact on rates of cervical dysplasia or neoplasia. Furthermore, there was no effect of disease location, behavior, or oral contraceptive use. However, there were significantly more abnormal cervical smears in IBD patients who were current smokers compared with exsmokers and those who had never smoked (27.4% versus 11.4%, P = 0.001, odds ratio = 2.95, 95% confidence interval = 1.55-5.50).

CONCLUSIONS

Women with IBD are not at increased risk of abnormal cervical smears unless they smoke. These data suggest that young women with IBD should be managed as per the background population; attending for regular smear testing, and undergoing vaccination against cervical cancer when available.

Gynecologic issues in the HIV-infected woman

In this article, gynecologic conditions of increased importance in the HIV-infected woman are discussed. Women living with HIV may have an increase in menstrual disorders, lower genital tract neoplasias, gynecologic surgery, and sexually transmitted infections. The literature relevant to choosing a method of contraception for HIV-positive women is also discussed. With the advent of HAART, seropositive women are now facing issues around longevity, such as menopause and disorders of bone mineral density, as well as those associated with fertility.

Squamous dysplasia of the rectum in a patient with ulcerative colitis treated with 6-mercaptopurine

Human papilloma virus (HPV) has been found to be a precursor and risk factor for both cervical and anal dysplasia. Cervical dysplasia, which is the precursor to carcinoma, is associated with immunosuppression from a variety of causes; reports of anal dysplasia associated with immune suppression exist as well. A recent study published in abstract form only demonstrated that women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) had high rates of cervical dysplasia and that those on immune suppressants had even higher rates of dysplasia. We report a case of a 50-year-old woman with refractory ulcerative colitis chronically treated with 6-mercaptopurine that developed severe squamous dysplasia of the rectum. The dysplastic mucosa was found to be positive for p16 (associated with high-risk HPV) after immunostaining. A total colectomy was performed. This case highlights the importance of immune suppression in the development of dysplasia of the anus/cervix secondary to HPV infection.

CD4+ T cell-mediated antigen-specific immunotherapy in a mouse model of cervical cancer

A major agenda for tumor immunology is the generation of specific immune responses leading to the destruction of incipient and frank neoplasia. In this report, we show that a novel HPV16 E7 fusion protein can produce objective therapeutic responses against incipient cervical cancer in genetically engineered mice that express in the cervix the HPV16 early region genes implicated as causative agents in human cervical cancer. Although nonresponsive toward the HPV16 E7 oncoprotein in the CD8+ T-cell compartment by virtue of MHC haplotype, the mice were capable of mounting an induced CD4+ T-cell response against E7, and in addition developed spontaneous anti-E7 antibodies. HPV16/CD4-/- mice showed increased tumor burden indicative of CD4-mediated immune surveillance. Seeking to enhance the CD4 response, we immunized mice bearing incipient cervical cancer with a recombinant protein fusing E7 with a mycobacterial heat shock protein. The incidences of cervical carcinoma and of high-grade dysplasia (CIN 3) were consequently reduced by comparison to control mice. Thus, an HPV16 E7 immunogen holds promise for noninvasive treatment and prevention of human cervical cancer.

Gynecologic issues in the HIV-infected woman

Science has made great strides in understanding the management of the many gynecologic conditions that affect HIV-positive women with an increased frequency. As HIV-infected women's life expectancy continues to lengthen, new treatments are necessary for recurring conditions, such as lower genital tract neoplasias. The medical field has much to learn about the interaction between sex steroids, HIV-infection, and the immune system. As knowledge grows, clinicians will be better equipped to counsel women about contraceptive issues, pregnancy, and menopause.

Performance of cytology and colposcopy in diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in HIV-positive and HIV-negative women

As part of an extensive multi-institutional DIANAIDS-HIV-HPV-SIL project run in Italy (co-ordinated by ISS), the present study compares the performance (sensitivity, specificity, agreement) of routine cervical smear cytology with that of colposcopy in the detection of histologically-confirmed CIN lesions in 37 HIV-positive and 21 HIV-negative women, belonging to the DIANAIDS cohort of 459 women. All women were subjected to a cervical smear, colposcopy and biopsy, making possible the pairwise comparison of these techniques. In the whole series of HIV-positive and HIV-negative women, cytology had a sensitivity of 86.9% and specificity of 83.3%, the sensitivity of grade 2 abnormality on colposcopy against histology being 82.6% and specificity, 33.3%. No statistically significant difference was observed in the performance of Pap smears between the HIV-positive and HIV-negative women. The sensitivity of cytology was 89.7% vs 82.4% and the specificity, 75% vs 100%. For colposcopy, the sensitivity was 79.3% vs 88.2% and the specificity, 75% vs 50%. These data suggest that cervical Pap smear cytology is a highly sensitive and specific diagnostic tool in the clinical monitoring of lower genital tract pathology in HIV-positive women. Colposcopy, on the other hand, proved to be a somewhat less accurate diagnostic tool in these women.

Is HIV infection associated with an increase in the prevalence of cervical neoplasia?

OBJECTIVE

To test the hypotheses: (1) that HIV infection predisposes to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN); (2) that this CIN is a result of HIV related immunosuppression; and (3) that this CIN is a result of immunosuppression causing increased expression of the potentially oncogenic viruses, human papilloma virus (HPV), Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV).

DESIGN

A matched cross sectional study.

SETTING

The Department of Gynaecological Oncology, The Samaritan Hospital, London; the Department of Genitourinary Medicine, St Mary's Hospital, London; and the Family Planning Clinic, Claremont Terrace, Glasgow.

SUBJECTS

Fifty HIV seropositive women enrolled from the Genitourinary Medicine Department and the Drug Dependency Unit at St Mary's Hospital, London, and the Unit of Infectious Diseases at Ruchill Hospital, Glasgow. Forty-three HIV seronegative controls enrolled from the Department of Genitourinary Medicine at St Mary's Hospital, matched against 43 of the seropositive women for age, age at first intercourse, lifetime number of sexual partners, and smoking habit.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Associations between CIN, as detected by cytology and histology, and HIV infection. Association was also sought between CIN and immunosuppression, as measured clinically by T4 cell number, beta-2-microglobulin and p24 antigen. Associations of these with: (1) HPV, as detected by Southern blot testing and the polymerase chain reaction; (2) EBV, as detected by Southern blot testing; and (3) HSV, as detected by tissue culture of endocervical swabs, was also studied.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference in the prevalence of CIN or oncogenic viruses between HIV seropositive and seronegative women in the absence of immunosuppression. If the HIV infected women showed signs of immunosuppression, the prevalence of CIN was increased. No association was shown between detection of HPV, EBV and HSV and immunosuppression or CIN.

CONCLUSION

HIV infection may only be associated with an increased risk of CIN when immunosuppression is present.

Human papillomavirus infection and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in women with renal allografts

An increased prevalence of cervical cancer has been observed in immunosuppressed women, but controlled studies are rare. Biopsy specimens from 49 women with renal allografts and 69 non-immunosuppressed controls (with no history of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, vulval warts, or abnormal results of cervical smear tests) were assessed for colposcopic appearance, cytological and histological diagnosis, and the presence of human papillomavirus types 6/11 and 16/18 DNA sequences. At colposcopy 26 (53%) of the women with allografts had cervical abnormalities compared with 20 (29%) of the controls. The prevalence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia was significantly higher in the women with allografts (24 (49%) compared with 7 (10%]. The overall rate of detection of human papillomavirus DNA did not differ significantly between the two groups. There was however, a significant difference in the rate of detection of human papillomavirus type 16/18 DNA (27% in the women with allografts and 6% in the controls). These data confirm that pathological and virological changes affecting the cervix are significantly increased in immunosuppressed women and emphasise the need for regular colposcopic examination.