Is HPV-DNA Testing a Useful Tool in Predicting Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion Outcome? A Retrospective Longitudinal Study

HPV-DNA testing has entered in clinical practice. Three important questions remain controversial: 1) which is the best HPV-DNA technology? 2) Which age group should be targeted? 3) Is HPV-DNA testing predictive of disease outcome? The answers to these queries represent the endpoints of this study. The population of this retrospective study consisted of 272 women, each one having: baseline cytological diagnosis of Low-grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion (LSIL); baseline HPV-DNA reports by Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) and MY09/11 consensus primers PCR; follow-up duration over 3-years; cytological report of disease status at follow-up time. Firstly, we assessed the concordance and the performances of both HPV-DNA testing, then we correlated respectively HPV-DNA results and age of patients to disease outcome. DNA testing methods agreed in 83.4% of cases (K=0.66). Baseline HPV-DNA result was not significantly associated to disease outcome (p=0.06). Within HPV-DNA positive group, we found no evidence of correlation...