RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To analyze different amplification patterns of 3q26 and 5p15 regions in low-grade and high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. DESIGN: Experimental research. SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at a medical faculty in Slovakia. POPULATION: A group of 83 patients referred for colposcopic examination. METHODS: Amplification of 3q26 and 5p15 regions was analyzed on the 100 most atypical cells from a cervical cytology slide by fluorescent in situ hybridization using a multicolor hybridization probe. Chi-squared and Man-Whitney U-tests were used for statistical analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Liquid-based cytology samples and biopsy samples obtained during colposcopic examination correlated with high-risk human papillomavirus status and with amplification patterns of selected regions analyzed by fluorescent in situ hybridization. RESULTS: The number of cells with 3q26 and 5p15 gain rises with the severity of the lesion p < 0.01. The sensitivity of 3q26 amplification for CIN2+ lesions was 72.1% (95% confidence interval 56.3-84.7) and specificity was 90.0% (95% confidence interval 76.3-97.1). The sensitivity of 5p15 amplification for CIN2+ lesions was 69.8% (95% confidence interval 53.9-82.8) and specificity was 85.0% (95% confidence interval 70.2-94.3). CONCLUSION: Evaluation of telomerase components can help in differential diagnosis of low-grade and high-grade cervical lesions and in individualized management of these patients.