Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2025
Use of Interferon-γ Enzyme-linked Immunospot Assay to Characterize Novel T-cell Epitopes of Human Papillomavirus
Published on: March 8, 2012
Agreement Between High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Testing in Paired Self-Collected and Clinician-Collected Samples
Raquel Ibáñez1,2, Esther Roura1,2, Francisca Morey1
1Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, Catalan Institute of Oncology-Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, 08908 Barcelona, Spain.
Self-sampling (SS) shows good agreement with clinician-collected samples (CCS) for high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) testing in cervical cancer screening. Despite slightly higher viral cycle threshold (Ct) values in SS, sensitivity for detecting CIN2+ was not significantly impacted in this study.
Area of Science:
- Gynecologic Oncology
- Molecular Diagnostics
- Public Health Screening
Background:
- Cervical cancer screening relies on accurate human papillomavirus (HPV) testing.
- Self-sampling (SS) offers a potential alternative to clinician-collected samples (CCS), but requires comparable performance.
- Previous studies noted higher HPV viral cycle threshold (Ct) values in SS, potentially impacting sensitivity for high-grade lesions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the agreement of high-risk HPV (hrHPV) testing results between paired SS and CCS.
- To investigate differences in HPV viral cycle threshold (Ct) values between SS and CCS.
- To assess the association of Ct values with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) detection.
Main Methods:
- Paired samples (CCS and SS) were collected from 981 women aged 30-65 undergoing cervical cancer screening in Spain.
- High-risk HPV detection was performed using a PCR-based assay.
- Agreement metrics, Ct value differences, and correlation with CIN2+ outcomes were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Self-sampling detected a higher hrHPV prevalence (ratio 1.3) compared to clinician-collected samples.
- Positive agreement for hrHPV detection was high (85%), with excellent agreement for HPV16 (91.3%) and HPV18 (66.7%).
- Median Ct values were slightly higher in SS (32.9) than CCS (30.6), with >95% negative agreement.
Conclusions:
- Good agreement exists between SS and CCS for hrHPV testing in routine cervical cancer screening.
- Slightly higher Ct values in SS did not significantly impact CIN2+ detection sensitivity in this cohort.
- Further studies with larger paired sample sizes are recommended to fully assess Ct value implications on test sensitivity.
