Managing the transition in cervical screening methods for Taiwan: Policy recommendations and perspectives.

Since government-provided annual cervical cytology testing for all Taiwanese women aged 30 years or older became available in 1995, both cervical cancer incidence and death have decreased significantly. However, with the 2018 introduction of the national immunization program for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in all schoolgirls aged 13-15 years old, the positive predictive value of cytology testing is expected to decrease with rising vaccination rates, and therefore a transition to more sensitive HPV-based testing may be needed. This position paper, derived from discussions by a panel of experts in cervical cancer screening, provides short-, medium-, and long-term policy recommendations to manage the transition between cervical screening methods for Taiwan. The recommendations include concrete suggestions regarding testing procedures, standards, accreditation, monitoring, promotion, and implementation. It is hoped that comprehensive preparation and management of this transition will enable Taiwan to repeat the previous successes of the cervical cytology testing program.

Comparison of different strategies for the triage to colposcopy of women tested high-risk HPV positive on self-collected cervicovaginal samples.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the optimal strategy for the triage of women who test high-risk (hr) HPV positive on self-collected cervicovaginal samples. METHODS: This is a diagnostic accuracy sub-analysis of the GRECOSELF study, which reported on HPV-DNA testing with self-sampling in Greece. More than 13,000 women, 25-60 years old, who resided in rural areas of Greece, provided a self-collected cervicovaginal sample. Samples were tested for HPV-DNA and HPV16/18 genotyping with the cobas® HPV test (Roche® Molecular Systems, Pleasanton, CA, USA). HrHPV positive women were referred for colposcopy. Prior to colposcopy a physician-collected sample was obtained for cytology. After colposcopy/biopsy, women were classified as having cervical disease or not, and treated accordingly. RESULTS: Out of 1070 hrHPV positive women, 773 were subjected to colposcopy. Seventeen triage strategies, combining HPV16/18 genotyping and cytology, were investigated. The strategy referring to colposcopy women positive for HPV16 regardless of the cytology report, and women positive for other hrHPVs, in case of a subsequent atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance or worse (ASCUS+) cytology report, presented optimal trade-off; sensitivity 96.36% [(95%CI: (91.41-100.0)], positive predictive value (PPV) 27.46% [95%CI: (21.16-33.76)], and number of colposcopies required to detect one case of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia grade-2 or worse (CIN2+) 3.64. CONCLUSIONS: The optimal strategy for the triage to colposcopy of hrHPV positive women, detected with the cobas® HPV test on self-collected cervicovaginal samples, is referring all HPV16 positive women directly to colposcopy, and women positive for HPV18 or other hrHPVs only after an ASCUS or worse cytology report.

Qualitative Evidence Synthesis on Self-Collection for Human Papillomavirus-Based Cervical Screening: Protocol for Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer affecting women worldwide. In the 1980s, it was found that the sexually transmitted disease human papillomavirus causes over 90% of all cervical cancer cases. Since that discovery, diagnostic technologies have been developed for the detection of human papillomavirus DNA in cervical samples. However, significant sociocultural and structural barriers remain. Considerable strides have taken place in recent years to address these barriers, such as the self-collection for human papillomavirus-based cervical screening method. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review is to synthesize qualitative evidence around the self-collection method and identify strategies to increase acceptability and feasibility in different settings. This qualitative synthesis will be used to better understand how to conceptualize and implement more effective, accessible, and socially and culturally acceptable cervical screening programs and policies globally. METHODS: A systematic search will be conducted in Global Health, Cochrane, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), ProQuest, ScienceDirect, EMBASE, EMCARE, Medline (OVID), Scopus, and Web of Science. Published and peer-reviewed articles will be included. Two reviewers will independently screen and assess the studies. The data will be coded and analyzed using a thematic synthesis process. The socioecological model will be used to organize emergent themes at the micro and macro levels. The results will be presented in narrative and tabular form. RESULTS: The article search and data extraction were completed in May 2020. The data were analyzed in June 2020. The review will be submitted for publication in Fall 2020. CONCLUSIONS: This review will present the global evidence of the perspectives and experiences of various key stakeholders and how these perspectives and experiences impact their decision-making process to perform or accept self-collection for human papillomavirus-based cervical screening. The review will provide guidance to implementation researchers as well as implications for future research. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42019109073; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=109073. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/21093.