Comparison of Liquid-Based Cytology EASYPREP and SurePath for Detection of High-Risk HPV Genotypes

Molecular testing for high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) genotypes is important for cervical cancer screening. In this study, we compared the HPV detection rates using real-time PCR in cervical samples collected using two different liquid-based cytology (LBC) kits.

Cervical swab specimens were prospectively collected using the SurePath and EASYPREP collection kits. The Roche Cobas HPV test was used to detect HPV genotypes. The agreement between HPV genotypes in samples collected with the two LBCs was evaluated based on Cohen's kappa correlation coefficient.

Of the 421 cervical specimens, 43(10.2%) of the SurePath-collected samples and 51(12.1%) of the EASYPREP-collected samples tested positive for hrHPV genotypes, with an absolute agreement between the two sets of samples of 97.1% (409/421, kappa=0.856, P<0.001). When comparing hrHPV genotypes with abnormal cytology results, 60.0% (12/20) of the SurePath and 75.0% (15/20) of the EASYPREP samples tested positive for hrHPV genotypes, with an absolute agreement of 80.0% (12/15, kappa=0.667, P=0.002).

Cervical samples with EASYPREP showed good agreement with SurePath samples in terms of hrHPV genotype detection. EASYPREP is worth considering as a safe alternative that can collect and preprocess samples for HPV testing.