Usefulness of p16/Ki67 immunostaining in the triage of women referred to colposcopy

Adjunctive testing by cytology, p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology or HPV16/18 E6 oncoprotein for the management of HPV16/18 screen-positive women

High-risk human papillomavirus type 16/18 (HPV16/18) genotyping is unable to accurately discriminate nonprogressive infections from those that will progress to cervical cancer. Our study aimed to assesses if additional testing either with liquid-based cytology (LBC) or the putative progression markers p16/Ki-67 and HPV16/18 E6 oncoprotein (E6) can improve the efficiency of HPV16/18 genotyping for triaging high-risk HPV (hrHPV)-positive women through better cancer risk stratification. Women attending colposcopy after positive HPV16/18 genotyping results within the Forwarding Research for Improved Detection and Access for Cervical Cancer Screening and Triage (FRIDA) hrHPV-based screening study in Tlaxcala, Mexico, underwent further testing with LBC, p16/Ki-67 dual-stained (DS) cytology and E6. We calculated measures of test performance for detecting histologically confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or higher (CIN2+) and grade 3 or higher (CIN3+). A number of 475 (64.3%) of 739 HPV16/18-positive women had complete results for all tests. Triage positivity rates were 14.1%, 18.5% and 24.4%, for LBC, E6 and DS, respectively. Compared with LBC, DS had higher sensitivity (24.4% vs 60.0%) although lower specificity (87.0% vs 79.3%) for CIN3+ (P < .001), whereas E6 had a sensitivity of 37.8% and a specificity of 83.5%. No invasive cancer was missed by DS or E6, but 75% were in normal cytology. DS test was associated with nearly 75% reduction of colposcopy referrals compared with the direct referral of all HPV16/18-positive women, giving the least number of colposcopies (n = 4.3) per CIN3+ detected. We show that adjunctive testing of HPV16/18-positive women with DS may greatly reduce unnecessary colposcopy referrals within HPV-based screening employing HPV16/18 genotyping while retaining acceptable sensitivity for CIN2+ and CIN3+.

Evaluation of Cervical High-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions-Correlated Markers as Triage Strategy for Colposcopy After Co-Testing

Background

Colposcopy was referred in cases with severe abnormalities in co-testing. Although p16/Ki67 dual staining reduced the referral rate, its sensitivity and specificity need to be enhanced.

Methods

The expressions of p16, Ki-67, SMAD3, YAP1, RELA were evaluated in the colposcopy referral population. The inclusion criteria included 30–60 years and diagnosed with HPV16/18-positive, other HR-HPV-positive with ASCUS, LSIL, AGC (atypical glandular cell) in co-testing. Colposcopies, endocervical curettages of cervical biopsies were also collected. Cases were excluded if there were no biopsies, if the interval between a cervical screening test and biopsies was more than 6 months, or if insufficient tissue was available as a formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded block. The pathology was independently reviewed by two pathologists. Discrepant interpretations were adjudicated by a third pathologist.

Results

In total, 1194 of 1273 cases who were referred to colposcopy were evaluated in the present study. The sensitivity and specificity of p16+ combined with Ki-67+ for predicting CIN2+ were 62.1% and 89.5%, respectively. p16+ combined with YAP1+ and/or RELA+ provided a sensitivity and specificity of 70.9% and 89.5%, respectively, while 72.8% and 86.4% were achieved by p16+ combined with YAP1+ and/or SMAD3+ and/or RELA+. In HPV16/18+ and LSIL subgroups, the sensitivity and specificity of p16+ combined with Ki-67+ for predicting CIN2+ were 67.7% and 87.6%, respectively, for the former group and 58.6%, 88.8%, respectively, for the latter group. p16+, YAP1+/RELA+ showed a better performance for predicting CIN2+ with a better sensitivity and considerable specificity in the other HPV+ combined with ASCUS group than were achieved by p16+ combined with Ki-67+. RELA+ and the combination of p16 and RELA/YAP1 also provided the Max AUC area.

Conclusion

Our study shows that RELA and the combination of p16 and RELA/YAP1 achieved better sensitivity and specificity for detecting morphologically CIN2+ lesions.

Discovery and validation of novel biomarkers for detection of cervical cancer

AIMS

To investigate novel biomarker for diagnosis of cervical cancer, we analyzed the datasets in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and confirmed the candidate biomarker in patient sample.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We collected major datasets of cervical cancer in GEO, and analyzed the differential expression of normal and cancer samples online with GEO2R and tested the differences, then focus on the GSE63514 to screen the target genes in different histological grades by using the R-Bioconductor package and R-heatmap. Then human specimens from the cervix in different histological grades were used to confirm the top 8 genes expression by immunohistochemical staining using Ki67 as a standard control.

RESULTS

We identified genes differentially expressed in normal and cervical cancer, 274 upregulated genes and 206 downregulated genes. After intersection with GSE63514, we found the obvious tendency in different histological grades. Then we screened the top 24 genes, and confirmed the top 8 genes in human cervix tissues. Immunohistochemical (IHC) results confirmed that keratin 17 (KRT17) was not expressed in normal cervical tissues and was over-expressed in cervical cancer. Cysteine-rich secretory protein-2 (CRISP2) was less expressed in high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) than in other histological grades.

CONCLUSION

For the good repeatability and consistency of KRT17 and CRISP2, they may be good candidate biomarkers. Combined analysis of KRT17, CRISP2 expression at both genetic and protein levels can determine different histological grades of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Such combined analysis is capable of improving diagnostic accuracy of cervical cancer.

Novel biomarkers with promising benefits for diagnosis of cervical neoplasia: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer screening is slowly transitioning from Pappanicolaou cytologic screening to primary Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) or HPV testing as an effort to enhance early detection and treatment. However, an effective triage tests needed to decide who among the VIA or HPV positive women should receive further diagnostic evaluation to avoid unnecessary colposcopy referrals is still lacking. Evidence from experimental studies have shown potential usefulness of Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen (SCC Ag), Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (M-CSF), Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), MicroRNA, p16INKa / ki-67, HPV E6/E7/mRNA, and DNA methylation biomarkers in detecting premalignant cervical neoplasia. Given the variation in performance, and scanty review studies in this field, this systematic review described the diagnostic performance of some selected assays to detect high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2+) with histology as gold standard.

METHODS

We systematically searched articles published in English between 2012 and 2020 using key words from PubMed/Medline and SCOPUS with two reviewers assessing study eligibility, and risk of bias. We performed a descriptive presentation of the performance of each of the selected assays for the detection of CIN2 + .

RESULTS

Out of 298 citations retrieved, 58 articles were included. Participants with cervical histology yielded CIN2+ proportion range of 13.7-88.4%. The diagnostic performance of the assays to detect CIN2+ was; 1) SCC-Ag: range sensitivity of 78.6-81.2%, specificity 74-100%. 2) M-CSF: sensitivity of 68-87.7%, specificity 64.7-94% 3) VEGF: sensitivity of 56-83.5%, specificity 74.6-96%. 4) MicroRNA: sensitivity of 52.9-67.3%, specificity 76.4-94.4%. 5) p16INKa / ki-67: sensitivity of 50-100%, specificity 39-90.4%. 6) HPV E6/E7/mRNA: sensitivity of 65-100%, specificity 42.7-90.2%, and 7) DNA methylation: sensitivity of 59.7-92.9%, specificity 67-98%.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the reported test performance and the receiving operating characteristics curves implies that implementation of p16ink4a/ki-67 assay as a triage for HPV positive women to be used at one visit with subsequent cryotherapy treatment is feasible. For the rest of assays, more robust clinical translation studies with larger consecutive cohorts of women participants is recommended.

Dual staining for p16/Ki-67 to detect high-grade cervical lesions: Results from the Screening Triage Ascertaining Intraepithelial Neoplasia by Immunostain Testing study

We compared clinical performance of p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology and human papillomavirus (HPV) genotyping, via different algorithms-alone, or in combination with cytology-to identify cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) and grade 3 or worse (CIN3+) in women referred to as colposcopy. We included 492 cervical specimens (134 normal, 130 CIN1, 99 CIN2, 121 CIN3, 8 cancers) randomly selected from 1158 specimens with valid conventional cytology, HPV (cobas 4800 HPV test) and biopsy results. Dual-stained cytology was retrospectively performed (CINtec PLUS assay) on PreservCyt material; slides were read by a cytologist and confirmed by two pathologists, blinded to cytology, biopsy and genotyping results. Sensitivity and specificity (95% confidence intervals in parentheses) of dual-stained cytology to detect CIN2+ and CIN3+ were compared to other screening tests available for the same women. Positivity rate for dual-stained cytology increased with histological severity: 30.6% in normal, 41.5% in CIN1, 72.7% in CIN2, 86.8% in CIN3 and 87.5% in cancer. Dual-stained cytology alone had lower sensitivity than HPV testing for CIN2+ [80.7% (75.0-85.6) vs 89.9% (85.3-93.5)] and CIN3+ [86.8% (79.7-92.1) vs 92.3% (86.2-96.2)]. However, corresponding specificity values were higher [64.0% (57.9-69.8) vs 56.1% (49.8-62.1) for CIN2+; 54.0% (48.7-59.2) vs 44.4% (39.2-49.6) for CIN3+]. Combining dual-stained cytology with an ASC-US abnormality threshold decreased specificity to 31.4% (25.9-37.4) for CIN2+ and 24.2% (19.9-29.0) for CIN3+. The corresponding values considering low squamous intraepithelial lesion threshold values were 42.8% (36.8-49.0) and 35.0% (30.1-40.1). Dual-stained cytology and HPV testing exhibited similar performance, although the former improved the specificity by 7.9% and 9.6% for CIN2+ and CIN3+, respectively.

HPV genotyping and p16/Ki-67 test significantly improve detection rate of high-grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion

INTRODUCTION

Liquid-based cytology allows to apply modern and specific analyses of hrHPV genotyping in p16/Ki-67 test. All of these together could raise accuracy ratio for high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion above 90%. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of LBC, hrHPV testing, and p16/Ki-67 testing in diagnosis of high-grade cervical intraepithelial lesions.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study consisted of 176 women, out of which 50 presented with HSIL (CIN2) SCC (cervical intraepithelial lesion grade 2 squamous cell carcinoma). 126 women with a negative Pap test were pooled into the second group of the study. All patients were resampled for LBC, HPV genotyping, and for the p16/Ki-67 test. The research was carried out between May and December 2017, and second sampling were taken from 1 to 4 months.

RESULTS

We reported a strong correlation between positive Pap test and hrHPV (p < 0.05) that met accuracy close to 90%. We noted correlations between a positive p16/Ki-67 with a positive Pap test: p < 0.001; 66% sensitivity (95% CI: 51.2-78.8%), 87.8% specificity (95% CI: 75.2-95.4%), 76.8% accuracy (95% CI: 67.2-84.7%), and OR 13.9 (95% CI: 4.9-39.2), especially HSIL and HPV16: p < 0.001; sensitivity (95% CI) 64.0, specificity (95% CI) 98.4, accuracy (95% CI) 88.6, OR (95% CI) 109.3.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of our study indicate hrHPV genotyping as a good biomarker for the triage of patients with an abnormal cytological report. In our opinion, the hrHPV test reaches the highest level of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy, and should be considered as crucial diagnostic test in cervical screening.

Application of p16/Ki-67 dual-staining cytology in cervical cancers

Cytology-based Papanicolaou test on and primary HPV screening have been widely used in the identification of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions, which is of great significance for the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer. Patients diagnosed as ASCUS/LSIL usually need follow-up because some of them may develop into CIN2+. The consequences of women positive for HPV vary from person to person; some of them may progress into cervical dysplasia, reversible forms of precancerous lesions, and eventually invasive cervical cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an effective biomarker to triage different patients according to the preliminary screening results. p16 acts as a cell cycle regulatory protein that induces cell cycle arrest, and Ki-67 is a cell proliferation marker. Under physiological conditions, they could not co-express in the same cervical epithelial cells. The co-expression of these two molecules suggests a deregulation of the cell cycle mediated by HR-HPV infection and predicts the presence of high-grade cervical epithelial lesions. There is increasing evidence that p16/Ki-67 dual-staining cytology can be used as an alternative biomarker, showing overall high sensitivity and specificity for identifying high-grade CIN and cervical cancer. In this review, we discuss the significance of p16/Ki-67 dual-staining and summarize its application in the screening and triaging of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions.

Meta-analysis of the accuracy of p16 or p16/Ki-67 immunocytochemistry versus HPV testing for the detection of CIN2+/CIN3+ in triage of women with minor abnormal cytology

BACKGROUND

Women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) can be triaged accurately with a high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) test to identify those who need a referral. However, the triage of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) with hrHPV testing has very low specificity. Overexpression of p16, with or without Ki-67, indicates neoplastic transformation of human papillomavirus-infected cervical cells and may more accurately predict underlying cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 3 or worse (CIN3+).

METHODS

A literature search was conducted in 3 bibliographic databases. Studies were selected if they included women with ASC-US or LSIL who were triaged with dual staining (p16/Ki-67) and/or p16 staining and, if available, with a comparator hrHPV test to detect cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) or CIN3+.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight studies were eligible. The sensitivity of p16 staining for CIN3+ was significantly lower than that of hrHPV DNA testing (ratio for ASC-US, 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.78-0.97; ratio for LSIL, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.80-0.93). In contrast, the specificity of p16 staining was substantially higher with relative specificities of 1.60 (95% CI, 1.35-1.88) and 2.29 (95% CI, 2.05-2.56) for ASC-US and LSIL respectively. Dual staining was as sensitive as hrHPV DNA testing but was more specific (ratio for ASC-US, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.42-1.92; ratio for LSIL, 2.45; 95% CI, 2.17-2.77).

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis confirms that p16 staining and p16/Ki-67 staining are more specific for CIN2+/CIN3+ than hrHPV DNA testing. Although p16 staining is less sensitive for CIN3+ than hrHPV DNA testing, dual staining has similar sensitivity.

Progress in immunocytochemical staining for cervical cancer screening

Cervical cancer is one of the most common gynecological malignancies. In recent years, the implementation of cervical cancer screening has resulted in the effective control of cervical cancer incidence. However, many deficiencies still exist in the current screening techniques and strategies. With advancements in cervical cancer screening research, immunochemical staining to determine cervical cytology has shown a broader application prospect in the early screening for cervical cancer, especially for triage in cervical cancer screening.

Performance of a DNA methylation marker panel using liquid-based cervical scrapes to detect cervical cancer and its precancerous stages

Background

A change of cervical cancer screening algorithms to an HPV-based screening setting is discussed in many countries, due to higher sensitivity of HPV testing compared to cytology. Reliable triage methods are, however, an essential prerequisite in such a setting to avoid overtreatment and higher screening costs.

Results

In this study, a series of cervical scrapes collected in PreservCyt liquid-based cytology (LBC) medium from women with cervical cancer (n = 5), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 1–3 (n = 74), and normal cytology (n = 201; further n = 352 collected in SureThin®) were assessed for methylation of the marker regions ASTN1, DLX1, ITGA4, RXFP3, SOX17, and ZNF671 using the GynTect assay and compared to cobas® HPV and CINtec Plus® biomarker results. All samples from women with cervical cancer, 61.2% of CIN3, 44.4% of CIN2 and 20.0% of CIN1 cases were scored positive for the GynTect methylation assay. In contrast, all CIN, irrespective of severity grade, and carcinomas were positive by both, CINtec Plus and cobas HPV. The specificity of GynTect for CIN3+ was 94.6% compared to 69.9% for CINtec Plus and 82.6% for cobas HPV (all HPV types) and 90.6% for cobas HPV 16/18. DNA methylation analysis of this methylation marker panel (GynTect assay) in cervical scrapes consistently detects cervical cancer and the majority of CIN3 as well as a subset of CIN1/2 lesions. The detection rate among cytologically normal samples is extraordinarily low (1.5%).

Conclusion

GynTect shows excellent performance when using cervical scrape material collected in liquid-based cytology media, a prerequisite for employing such a test as a triage in screening programs. Compared to the other test systems used in this work, GynTect showed higher specificity while still detecting all cancer cases.

Value of HPV 16/18 Genotyping and p16/Ki-67 Dual Staining to Predict Progression to HSIL/CIN2+ in Negative Cytologies From a Colposcopy Referral Population

OBJECTIVES

To assess the prognostic value of human papillomavirus (HPV) 16/18 genotyping and p16/Ki-67 dual staining cytology in high-risk HPV (hrHPV)-positive women with no lesion or minor abnormalities.

METHODS

We evaluated progression to high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion/cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 2 to 3 or cervical cancer (HSIL/CIN2+), persistence/regression of hrHPV infection in women referred to colposcopy showing hrHPV infection, histology diagnosis different from HSIL/CIN2+, and negative cytology. HPV 16/18 genotyping and dual staining were performed in liquid-based cytologic specimens obtained on the first visit.

RESULTS

Progression was observed in 16 (8.0%) of 200 women. Those with HPV 16/18 infection had an increased risk of progression compared with women infected by other hrHPV types, and they also showed more persistence. However, no association was observed between progression or persistence and the result of the dual staining.

CONCLUSIONS

HPV 16/18-positive women with no lesions or minor abnormalities are at high risk of progression to HSIL/CIN2+ and hrHPV persistence.

The role of regulatory T cells in pathogenesis and therapy of human papillomavirus-related diseases, especially in cancer

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted agent in the world. It can cause condyloma acuminatum, anogenital malignancies, and head and neck cancers. The host immune responses to HPV involve multiple cell types that have regulatory functions, and HPV-mediated changes to regulatory T cells (Tregs) in both the local lesion tissues and the circulatory system of patients have received considerable attention. The role of Tregs in HPV infections ranges from suppression of effector T cell (Teff) responses to protection of tissues from immune-mediated injury in different anatomic subsites. In this review, we explore the influence of Tregs in the immunopathology of HPV-related diseases and therapies targeting Tregs as novel approaches against HPV.

Dual staining for p16/Ki67 is a more specific test than cytology for triage of HPV-positive women

Globally, cervical cancer (CC) screening is moving from cytology-based to HPV screening or a combination of both (co-testing). Most HPV-positive women clear the virus and do not develop relevant disease. Additional triage approaches are needed to reduce unnecessary colposcopy referrals. The p16/Ki67 dual stain cytology test (DSCT) is one of the most promising, but it has not (yet) been included as a recommendation in European guidelines. Previous studies in Spain on this issue are lacking. We studied the performance of p16/Ki67 DSCT for the triage of HPV-positive women in Navarra to detect precursor lesions (PLs) and CC compared to cytology only. We selected 1865 HPV-positive women with p16/Ki67 DSCT results and 304 women with an available biopsy result. Sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of the p16/Ki67 DSCT to detect underlying PLs and CC compared to cytology were calculated, using the biopsy as the gold standard. Cytology and p16/Ki67 DSCT showed similar sensitivity (99.0% vs. 98.0%), but cytology had significantly lower specificity (6.9 vs. 39.1%). Of the CIN2+/HPV+ women, triage using cytology only would have resulted in 40.2% true PLs and CC, while using p16/Ki67 DSCT this was 98.0% qualifying the women for colposcopy referral. Our results show that p16/Ki67 DSCT detects more than twice as many true PLs and CC than cytology only in this population. Thus, this test can be considered as an important additional tool in HPV testing-based screening strategies, to avoid unnecessary colposcopy referrals and to reduce health care costs.

Diagnostic algorithm for determining primary tumor sites using peritoneal fluid

This study was conducted to develop a novel algorithm for determining the origin of tumors by combining analysis of cluster patterns with immunocytochemistry (ICC) for markers in cells from fine-needle aspirates of ascites. We used LBC, based on SurePath^TM (BD Diagnostics) technology, to screen 96 peritoneal fluid samples from patients with known malignancies and from 10 control patients with cirrhosis. Following dual ICC staining for cytokeratin 7 (CK7) and paired box gene 8 (PAX8), we developed an algorithm using immunoreactivity and three-dimensional (3D) cluster patterns to correlate staining and 3D cluster patterns with common primary origins that included stomach, ovarian, pancreatobiliary tract, colon, lung, and breast cancers. With the application of an automatic digitalized image analyzer, competence performance was analyzed using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. CK7 and PAX8 staining and 3D cluster patterns were used to differentiate primary origins. Samples from patients with stomach cancer were no 3D cluster /CK7⁺/PAX8^- with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.8699 in ROC curve analysis. Samples from ovarian cancer patients were large 3D cluster/CK7⁺/PAX8⁺ with AUC of 0.9812. Samples from pancreatobiliary tract cancer patients were small 3D cluster/CK7⁺/PAX8^- with AUC of 0.8772. The remaining cancer samples, including breast, lung and colon cancer samples, had similar patterns of large 3D clusters/CK7⁺/PAX8^- with AUC of 0.882, especially for lung cancer. SurePath^TM technology, using 3D cluster patterns and dual ICC for CK7 and PAX8 in peritoneal fluid samples, can provide important information for determining specific primary origins in cases of unknown primary carcinoma.

Performance of P16/Ki67 dual staining in triaging hr-HPV-positive population during cervical Cancer screening in the younger women

BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer is the most common malignancy from the female reproductive tract, and usually develops from low-grade or high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL or HSIL). Detecting the precancerous lesion during the LSIL-HSIL-invasive cancer sequelae can effectively interrupt the oncogenesis and decrease the incidence of invasive carcinoma. The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of P16/Ki67 dual staining in triaging hr-HPV-positive population.

METHODS

Conventional gynecological examination, cervical cytology and hr-HPV testing were given to all patients. Specimens were collected for cytology examination and HPV genotyping. According to cytology results, patients were divided into cervical cancer group, HSIL group, LSIL group and benign lesion group. Sensitivity and specificity of the dual staining method in each histopathologic group was obtained and compared.

RESULTS

Among the108 patients participated in the study, 65 were diagnosed as normal, 15 as LSIL, 20 as HSIL and 8 as CC, by histopathologic examination. Dual staining of p16/Ki67 on cytology specimen provided a positive predictive value of 86% and the negative predictive value of 96%. The sensitivity approached 96.43% when combining ThinPrep cytological test (TCT) with the dual staining, with a specificity of 60% in detecting HSIL. Joint detection of TCT and p16/Ki67 dual staining displayed the highest specificity among all the attempted combinations of detection methods.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that p16/Ki-67 dual staining represents an effective method for cervical cancer screening. Application of this method could lead to a reduction of unnecessary colposcopy referrals and misdiagnosis.

Screening for precancerous anal lesions with P16/Ki67 immunostaining in HIV-infected MSM

BACKGROUND

Screening of anal cancer in HIV-infected MSM with anal cytology results in high rates of false positive results and elevated burden of high-resolution anoscopies. High-risk HPV up-regulates p16 and Ki67 expression in epithelial cells. We assessed the usefulness of P16/Ki-67 immunostaining cytology for the diagnosis of precancerous anal lesions.

METHODOLOGY

Cross-sectional multicenter study. Concomitant anal liquid cytology with p16/Ki-67 immunostaining and HRA with biopsy of acetowhite lugol-negative lesions was performed in HIV-infected MSM. We compared the diagnostic performance of an abnormal anal cytology and p16/Ki-67 immunostaining relative to HRA-guided biopsy by logistic regression and comparison of ROC areas.

RESULTS

We included 328 HIV-infected MSM. HSIL was histologically diagnosed in 72 subjects (25.1%), and 2 (0.6%) were diagnosed with anal cancer. An abnormal cytology showed a sensitivity of 95.6% and a specificity of 58.8% for the diagnosis of biopsy-proven HSIL. P16/Ki67 positivity was associated with the presence of biopsy-proven HSIL (P trend = 0.004) but with low sensitivity (41.2%) and specificity (71%). The combination of standard cytology with P16/Ki67 immunostaining did not increment the predictive value of standard cytology alone (AUC 0.685 vs. 0.673, respectively, P = 0.688).

CONCLUSION

In HIV-infected MSM P16/Ki67 immunostaining does not improve the diagnostic accuracy of anal cytology, which shows a high sensitivity yet poor specificity. Other approaches aimed at improving the diagnostic accuracy of current techniques for the diagnostic of precancerous HSIL are warranted.

Diagnostic performance of dual-staining cytology for cervical cancer screening: A systematic literature review

Cervical cancer screening saves lives. Secondary prevention in cervical cancer screening relies on the results of primary cytology and/or HPV testing. However, primary screening with cytology has a low sensitivity, and HPV screening has a low specificity. This means that either cancers are missed, or women are over-treated. To improve performance outcomes, the concept of dual-stain cytology (CINtec^® PLUS Cytology test) has been introduced. In this approach, additional staining with p16/Ki-67 is performed in cases where cytology results are abnormal (LSIL or ASCUS) and/or HPV-positive. Another way to describe this approach might be "diagnostic" cytology. In order to assess the value of this "diagnostic cytology", a systematic literature review was conducted of dual-stain cytology performance across multiple studies until May 2016. In a Belgian screening population (women age 25-65 years), dual-stain cytology was significantly more sensitive (66%) and slightly less specific (-1.0%) than cytology. In the population referred to colposcopy or with abnormal cytology (ASCUS, LSIL), dual-staining showed a significantly higher increase in specificity, and a slightly lower sensitivity than HPV testing. Specificity gains resulted in fewer false positives and an increase in the number of correct referrals to colposcopy. Dual-staining with p16/Ki-67 cytology is an attractive biomarker approach for triage in cervical cancer screening.

Frequency of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in cervical intraepithelial lesions and the status of cytological p16/Ki-67 dual-staining

Background

Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is not a disease subject to mandatory reporting in Brazil, and the prevalence rate of this genital infection varies according to the region in which studies are conducted, as well as by the detection technique employed. Ct has been associated with persistence of Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and the facilitation of cervical carcinoma development. We evaluated the Chlamydia trachomatis infection and its association with cytology, p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology and cervical intraepithelial lesions status in a screening cohort in Brazil.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study of 1481 cervical samples from asymptomatic women aged 18 to 64. Samples were collected for liquid-based cytology and Ct detection by polymerase chain reaction. p16/Ki-67 double staining was performed on samples with abnormal cytology. Statistical analysis was by chi-square and likelihood-ratio tests. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were determined.

Results

The frequency of Ct was 15.6% and its presence was not associated with detection of p16/Ki-67 [OR = 1.35 (0.5–3.4)]. There was also no association between abnormal cervical cytology and Ct-positivity [OR = 1.21 (0.46–3.2)]. Associations were observed between p16/Ki-67 and high-grade lesions detected by cytology and in biopsies [OR = 3.55 (1.50–8.42) and OR = 19.00 (0.6–7.2), respectively].

Conclusions

The asymptomatic women in our study had a high frequency of Ct infection but this was not associated with p16/Ki-67 detection in samples with abnormal cytology. The expression of p16/Ki-67 was highest in women with high-grade CIN (p = 0.003).

p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology for detecting cervical (pre)cancer in a HPV-positive gynecologic outpatient population

Women who test positive for a high-risk type of the human papillomavirus (HPV) require triage testing to identify those women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 or cancer (≥CIN3). Although Pap cytology is considered an attractive triage test, its applicability is hampered by its subjective nature. This study prospectively compared the clinical performance of p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology to that of Pap cytology, with or without HPV16/18 genotyping, in high-risk HPV-positive women visiting gynecologic outpatient clinics (n=446 and age 18-66 years). From all women, cervical scrapes (for Pap cytology, HPV16/18 genotyping, and p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology) and colposcopy-directed biopsies were obtained. The sensitivity of p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology for ≥CIN3 (93.8%) did neither differ significantly from that of Pap cytology (87.7%; ratio 1.07 and 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.97-1.18) nor from that of Pap cytology combined with HPV16/18 genotyping (95.1%; ratio 0.99 and 95% CI: 0.91-1.07). However, the specificity of p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology for ≥CIN3 (51.2%) was significantly higher than that of Pap cytology (44.9%; ratio 1.14 and 95% CI: 1.01-1.29) and Pap cytology combined with HPV16/18 genotyping (25.8%; ratio 1.99 and 95% CI: 1.68-2.35). After exclusion of women who had been referred because of abnormal Pap cytology, the specificity of p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology for ≥CIN3 (56.7%) remained the same, whereas that of Pap cytology (60.3%) increased substantially, resulting in a similar specificity of both assays (ratio 0.94 and 95% CI: 0.83-1.07) in this sub-cohort. In summary, p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology has a good clinical performance and is an interesting objective microscopy-based triage tool for high-risk HPV-positive women.

Predictive value of p16/Ki-67 immunocytochemistry for triage of women with abnormal Papanicolaou test in cervical cancer screening: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The Papanicolaou (Pap) test is one screening strategy used to prevent cervical cancer in developed countries. The p16/Ki-67 immunocytochemistry is a triage test performed on Pap smears in women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) or low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion.

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to review studies investigating the diagnostic performance of p16/Ki-67 dual stain for triage of women with abnormal Pap tests.

DESIGN

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy studies.

SETTINGS

We followed the protocol of systematic review of diagnostic accuracy studies.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We searched PubMed, The Cochrane Library, BioMed Central, and ClinicalTrials.gov for relevant studies. We included research that assessed the accuracy of p16/Ki-67 dual stain and high risk human papillomavirus testing for triage of abnormal Pap smears. Review articles and studies that provided insufficient data to construct 2.2 tables were excluded. Data synthesis was conducted using a random-effects model.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Sensitivity and specificity.

RESULTS

In seven studies encompassing 2628 patients, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of p16/Ki-67 for triage of abnormal Pap smear results were 0.91 (95% CI, 0.89 to 0.93) and 0.64 (95% CI, 0.62 to 0.66), respectively. No study used a case-control design. A subgroup analysis involving liquid-based cytology showed a sensitivity of 0.91 (95%CI, 0.89 to 0.93) and specificity of 0.64 (95%CI, 0.61 to 0.66).

CONCLUSIONS

Our meta-analysis of p16/Ki-67 dual stain studies showed that the test achieved high sensitivity and moderate specificity for p16/Ki-67 immunocytochemistry for high-grade squamous intraepi.thelial lesion and cervical cancer. We suggest that p16/Ki-67 dual stain might be a reliable ancillary method identifying high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions in women with abnormal Pap tests.

LIMITATIONS

No study in the meta-analysis examined the accuracy of the p16/Ki-67 dual stain for inter.pretation of glandular neoplasms.

Triage of LSIL/ASC-US with p16/Ki-67 dual staining and human papillomavirus testing: a 2-year prospective study

OBJECTIVE

To investigate human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing and p16/Ki-67 staining for detecting cervical intraepithelial grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) and CIN3 in women referred to colposcopy with minor abnormal cervical cytology low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) and atypical squamous cells of undermined significance (ASC-US). The clinical performance of both tests was evaluated as stand-alone tests and combined, for detection CIN2+ and CIN3 over 2 years.

METHODS

ThinPrep(®) liquid-based cytology (LBC) specimens were collected from 1349 women with repeat LSIL or ASC-US. HPV DNA was performed using Hybrid Capture. Where adequate material remained (n = 471), p16/Ki-67 overexpression was assessed. Clinical performance for detection of histologically diagnosed CIN2+ and CIN3 was calculated.

RESULTS

Approximately 62.2% of the population were positive for HPV DNA, and 30.4% were positive for p16/Ki-67. p16/Ki-67 showed no significant difference in positivity between LSIL and ASC-US referrals (34.3% versus 28.6%; P = 0.189). Women under 30 years had a higher rate of p16/Ki-67 compared to those over 30 years (36.0% versus 26.6%; P = 0.029). Overall HPV DNA testing produced a high sensitivity for detection of CIN3 of 95.8% compared to 79.2% for p16/Ki-67. In contrast, p16/Ki-67 expression offered a higher specificity, 75.2% versus 40.4% for detection of CIN3. Combining p16/Ki-67 with HPV DNA improved the accuracy in distinguishing between CIN3 and <CIN3. The absolute risk of CIN3 increased from 15.6% in women who were HPV DNA positive to 27% in women positive for HPV DNA and p16/Ki-67. Those negative for HPV DNA and p16/Ki-67 had a low risk of 1.2% of CIN3.

CONCLUSION

The addition of p16/Ki-67 to HPV DNA testing leads to a more accurate stratification of CIN in women presenting with minor cytological abnormalities.

Performance of HPV DNA testing with hybrid capture 2 in triaging women with minor cervical cytologic abnormalities (ASC-US/LSIL) in Northern Thailand

BACKGROUND

Minor cervical cytologic abnormalities include atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL). Approximately 10-20% of women with minor cytologic abnormalities have histologic high-grade squamous intraepithelial or worse lesions (HSIL+). In Thailand, women with minor cytologic abnormalities have a relatively high risk of cervical cancer, and referral for colposcopy has been suggested. A triage test is useful in the selection of women at risk for histologic HSIL+ to reduce the colposcopy burden. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of high-risk HPV DNA test in triage of women with minor cytologic abnormalities in northern Thailand.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

All women with ASC-US/LSIL cytology who were referred to our colposcopy clinic from October 2010 to February 2014 were included. HPV DNA testing was performed using Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2). All patients received colposcopic examination. Accuracy values of HC2 in predicting the presence of histologic HSIL+ were calculated.

RESULTS

There were 238 women in this study (121 ASC-US and 117 LSIL). The HC2 positivity rate was significantly higher in the LSIL group than in ASC-US group (74.8% versus 41.0%, p<0.001). Histologic HSIL+ was detected in 9 women (7.4%) in the ASC-US group and 16 women (13.7%) in the LSIL group (p=0.141). There was no histologic HSIL+ detected among HC2-negative cases (sensitivity and negative predictive value of 100%). The performance of HC2 triage was highest among women aged >50 years with ASC-US cytology. An increase in the cut-off threshold for positive HC2 resulted in a substantial decrease of sensitivity and negative predictive value.

CONCLUSIONS

HPV DNA testing with HC2 shows very high sensitivity and negative predictive value in triage of women with minor cervical cytologic abnormalities in northern Thailand. An increase of the cut-off threshold for HC2 triage is not recommended in this region.

Prospective evaluation of p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology for managing women with abnormal Papanicolaou cytology: PALMS study results

BACKGROUND

Testing for the presence of the human papillomavirus (HPV) is widely accepted for triaging Papanicolaou cytology results categorized as atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US). In contrast, HPV testing has limited use in triaging cytological low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs) due to prevalence rates of typically >80%. In the current study, the authors assessed the diagnostic performance of p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology in triaging ASC-US and LSIL cases within the prospective, multicentric Primary ASC-US LSIL Marker Study (PALMS).

METHODS

A total of 575 ASC-US cases and 529 LSIL cases from a cohort of 27,349 women who were prospectively enrolled into the PALMS study in 5 European countries were tested with p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology and Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) HPV testing. Colposcopy-guided biopsy results of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) were used as clinical endpoints.

RESULTS

p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology demonstrated comparable (ASC-US: 94.4% for dual-stained cytology vs 100% for HC2 testing; P = .317) or lower (LSIL: 85.7% for dual-stained cytology vs 98.4% for HC2 testing; P = .005) sensitivity for CIN2+, but higher levels of specificity compared with HC2 HPV testing in both ASC-US (78.7% vs 60.4%; P<.001) and LSIL (53.3% vs 15.6%; P<.001) cases. Positive predictive values for CIN2+ were substantially higher for dual-stained cytology versus HC2 HPV testing, especially in LSIL, and in ASC-US cases for women aged <30 years.

CONCLUSIONS

The clinical usefulness and efficiency of triaging women with ASC-US or LSIL Papanicolaou cytology results by p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology testing has been confirmed in this prospective, pan-European study. The high positive predictive value of dual-stained cytology for the presence of high-grade CIN may help to reduce the number of unnecessary colposcopy referrals.

mRNA biomarker detection in liquid-based cytology: a new approach in the prevention of cervical cancer

Several high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced cell biomarkers have been proposed as possible candidates to identify patients harboring high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) of the uterine cervix. We aimed to determine the feasibility of the detection of the mRNA of six biomarkers in cervical smear specimens obtained by liquid-based cytology and to evaluate whether this approach might be useful in the identification of patients with HSIL. One-hundred and twenty three women referred to colposcopy in the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona were included in the study. After a thorough study, including Pap test, high-risk HPV testing (Hybrid Capture 2 test), and colposcopy with directed biopsy and/or endocervical curettage, 48 patients were diagnosed with HSIL, whereas 75 were classified as negative (n=28), or harboring low-grade SIL (n=47). CDKN2A/p16, BIRC5, MMP9, TOP2A, MCM5, and MKI67 mRNA expression was analyzed by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction in liquid-based cytology after the Pap test and Hybrid Capture 2 performance. The tissue expression of these biomarkers was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in the biopsy material. One-hundred and thirteen out of 123 (92%) liquid-based cytology yielded adequate material for mRNA analysis. TOP2A was the most sensitive (97%) biomarker for the detection of HSIL and CDKN2A/p16 the most specific (78%). The combination of TOP2A and CDKN2A/p16 showed a sensitivity of 96% (95% confidence interval (CI): 88-99) and a specificity of 71% (95% CI: 55-82). In the immunohistochemistry analysis, all biomarkers showed a high sensitivity but low specificity for HSIL, except CDKN2A/p16 which had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 63%. The combination of TOP2A and CDKN2A/p16 showed a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI: 91-100) and a specificity of 43% (95% CI: 32-55). The detection of mRNA of cell biomarkers in liquid-based cytology material is feasible. The combination TOP2A and CDKN2A/p16 has a good balance between sensitivity and specificity for the detection of women with HSIL.

Validation of whole slide imaging in the primary diagnosis of gynaecological pathology in a University Hospital

AIMS

Experience in the use of whole slide imaging (WSI) for primary diagnosis in pathology is very limited. We aimed to determine the accuracy of interpretation of WSI compared with conventional light microscopy (CLM) in the diagnosis of routine gynaecological biopsies.

METHODS

All gynaecological specimens (n=452) received over a 2-month period at the Department of Pathology of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona were analysed blindly by two gynaecological pathologists, one using CLM and the other WSI. All slides were digitised in a Ventana iScan HT (Roche diagnostics) at 200×. All discrepant diagnoses were reviewed, and a final consensus diagnosis was established. The results were evaluated by weighted κ statistics for two observers.

RESULTS

The level of interobserver agreement between WSI and CLM evaluations was almost perfect (κ value: 0.914; 95% CI 0.879 to 0.949) and increased during the study period: κ value 0.890; 95% CI 0.835 to 0.945 in the first period and 0.941; 95%; CI 0.899 to 0.983 in the second period. Major discrepancies (differences in clinical management or prognosis) were observed in 9 cases (2.0%). All discrepancies consisted of small lesions (8 high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions of the uterine cervix, one lymph node micrometastasis of an ovarian carcinoma) underdiagnosed or missed in the WSI or the CLM evaluation. Discrepancies with no or minor clinical relevance were identified in 3.8% of the biopsies. No discrepancy was related to the poor quality of the WSI image.

CONCLUSIONS

Diagnosis of gynaecological specimens by WSI is accurate and may be introduced into routine diagnosis.