Very low human Papillomavirus DNA prevalence in mature women with negative computer-imaged liquid-based Pap tests

The prevalence of high-risk Human Papillomavirus DNA (hrHPV DNA) in women with negative Papanicolaou (Pap) test results provides a measure of residual risk for cervical neoplasia after cytology screening. The purpose of this study was to document the prevalence of hrHPV DNA in several thousand women ages > or =30 years with negative ThinPrep Imaging System (TIS)-imaged Pap test results in a large academic hospital cytology laboratory.

All cytology-negative TIS-imaged ThinPrep Pap tests (TPPT) with hrHPV DNA tests that were performed by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) method from May 1, 2005 to November 20, 2006 were identified and reviewed. Imaged-negative Pap test slides associated with a positive hrHPV DNA test result were rescreened manually. Variation in hrHPV DNA prevalence was assessed for different age and ethnic groups.

Of 8070 imaged cytology-negative TPPT from women ages 11 to 90 years, hrHPV DNA test results were also available. Among 7426 women ages > or =30 years with a cytology-negative, TIS-imaged, Pap test, a significant age-associated decline in hrHPV DNA prevalence was noted, 3.4% in 3050 women ages 30-45 years, 2.4% in 7426 women ages 30-90 years, and 1.8% in 5491 women ages 40-90 years. The hrHPV DNA-positive rate was 2.3% in 6012 imaged cytology-negative white women and 4.1% in 739 imaged cytology-negative black women.

Very low HC2 hrHPV DNA rates in 7426 women ages > or =30 years with cytology-negative, TIS-imaged, ThinPrep, Pap tests were similar to recently published data from 1 other academic center and lower than rates reported in previous studies on cytology-negative North American or European women screened manually with conventional or liquid-based Pap tests. These data may impact assessments of how best to combine cytology and HPV testing.