Diagnostic value of high-risk HPV other than type 16/18 in high-grade cervical neoplasia among cytology-negative women: A multicenter retrospective study

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary cause of cervical cancer, and a tool more sensitive than cytology for the early screening of cervical precancers. The two most carcinogenic genotypes HPV 16/18 have been reported in the majority of studies. High-risk HPVs other than HPV 16/18 (non-16/18-hrHPVs) cause approximately a quarter of cervical cancers, and we aimed to analyze the genotype-specific prevalence, risk and diagnostic efficiency of non-16/18-hrHPVs in cervical carcinogenesis among Chinese cytology-negative women.Methods: A total of 7043 females who had abnormal cervical testing results from January 2018 to October 2021 were enrolled, among them 3091 were cytology-negative. Descriptive statistics was used to estimate the HPV genotype-specific prevalence, and multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the genotype-specific non-16/18 hrHPVs risk of cervical carcinogenesis. The evaluation of diagnostic value among HPV genotypes included the possibility of predicting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2/3 or worse (CIN2+/CIN3+) and the diagnostic efficiency measured by increased referral rate and referral numbers of colposcopies per additional CIN2+/CIN3+ detected.Results: Among HPV-positive cytology-negative women, the five dominant genotypes for CIN2+/CIN3+ were HPV 31/33/35/52/58. HPV 52/58/33 had comparatively high sensitivity and specificity in predicting CIN2+/CIN3+, while the referral strategy of multiple HPV58 required 26 colposcopies to detect 1 CIN3+, compared with 14, 12, and 8 required by multiple HPV52, 31, and 33, respectively.Conclusions: HPV31/33/35/52/58 infections are significant risk factors for cervical lesions, and multiple HPV 31/33/52 infections should be included in the previously recommended HPV16/18 genotyping triage for colposcopy in China, as the benefits of disease prevention may outweigh the disadvantages of increasing requirements for colposcopy services.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the genotype-specific prevalence, risk, and diagnostic efficiency of non-16/18-hrHPVs among Chinese cytology-negative women. The findings suggest that HPV 31/33/35/52/58 are significant risk factors for cervical lesions, and the inclusion of multiple genotypes (31/33/52) in HPV testing can improve disease prevention in China.