Annual Papanicolaou screening for 5 years among human papillomavirus-negative women.

BACKGROUND: Primary human papilloma virus (HPV) screening is more effective than cytology in reducing the risk of cervical cancer, but screening intervals should be extended in HPV-negative women. However, some Markov models predicted that long intervals are associated with an excess risk of cervical cancer. The aim of this analysis was to estimate the real-life risks and benefits of annual Papanicolaou (Pap) screening in HPV-negative women with normal cytology. METHODS: Women with negative Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) results and normal cytology at the time of inclusion in the Hannover HPV screening trial underwent annual Pap smears for 5 years. A subgroup was randomly selected for retesting with cytology, HC2, and colposcopy 60-68 months after recruitment. RESULTS: Of 4236 women included, 3406 had at least one Pap smear, but only 1185 attended all five annual screening visits. The proportion of women with at least one abnormal smear was 14.4% in 60 months. The probability of abnormal smears increased continuously over time. No case of ≥ CIN2+ was observed during 5 years. Of 605 women selected for subgroup analysis, 292 agreed to be retested (48.3%). The rate of high-risk HPV at 60-68 months was 3.0% (9/296). CONCLUSIONS: The long-term risk of high-grade neoplasia after an initial negative HC2 test and normal cytology result was low, while the rate of false-positive abnormal Pap smears was significant and increased constantly over time. Pap smear screening of HPV-negative women more frequently than every 5 years could be potentially harmful and seems to be of little clinical value.

The First Description of Docetaxel-Induced Recall Inflammatory Skin Reaction After Previous Drug Extravasation.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a cutaneous recall soft tissue injury at the site of previous extravasation of docetaxel. CASE SUMMARY: A 65-year-old white female with an invasive ductal carcinoma of the right breast was treated with carboplatin AUC 2 and docetaxel 30 mg/m(2) weekly via a peripheral vein access. During the 14th cycle, drug extravasation of docetaxel occurred in the left antecubital fossa characterized by a mild erythema without edema. A severe erythema developed in the former area of extravasation after the 15th cycle of carboplatin/docetaxel. The recall dermatitis continued to exacerbate after each course of systemic docetaxel chemotherapy and finally led to termination of this therapy. DISCUSSION: In general, extravasation of docetaxel causes only mild local skin reactions without further necessity of intervention. For pegylated liposomal doxorubicin and paclitaxel, inflammatory recall phenomena at sites of previous drug extravasation are rare and often occur as single events following administration of the same cytotoxic drug. According to the Naranjo probability scale, the administration of docetaxel in this case probably led to the cutaneous soft tissue injury as a result of extravasation. CONCLUSIONS: Caution is needed after an episode of docetaxel extravasation. Even after a therapy interruption of several weeks, resumption of chemotherapy with docetaxel might lead to recrudescence of the inflammatory skin reaction.