© 2001 by Oxford University Press
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 93, No. 4, 293-299,
February 21, 2001
© 2001 Oxford University Press
Comparison of Three Management Strategies for Patients With Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance: Baseline Results From a Randomized Trial
Affiliations of authors: D. Solomon (Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention), M. Schiffman (Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics), R. Tarone (Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics), National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD.
Correspondence to: Diane Solomon, M.D., Executive Plaza North, 6130 Executive Blvd., Rockville, MD 20852 (e-mail: ds87v{at}nih.gov).
Background: More than 2 million U.S. women receive an equivocal cervical cytologic diagnosis (atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance [ASCUS]) each year. Effective colposcopy triage strategies are needed to identify the minority of women who have clinically significant disease while avoiding excessive follow-up evaluation for others. Methods: The ASCUS/LSIL (i.e., low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion) Triage Study (ALTS) is a multicenter, randomized trial comparing the sensitivity and specificity of the following three management strategies to detect cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3): 1) immediate colposcopy (considered to be the reference standard), 2) triage to colposcopy based on human papillomavirus (HPV) results from Hybrid Capture 2TM (HC 2) and thin-layer cytology results, or 3) triage based on cytology results alone. This article summarizes the cross-sectional enrollment results for 3488 women with a referral diagnosis of ASCUS. All statistical tests are two-sided. Results: Among participants with ASCUS, the underlying prevalence of histologically confirmed CIN3 was 5.1%. Sensitivity to detect CIN3 or above by testing for cancer-associated HPV DNA was 96.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 91.6% to 98.8%), with 56.1% of women referred to colposcopy. Sensitivity of a single repeat cytology specimen with a triage threshold of HSIL or above was 44.1% (95% CI = 35.6% to 52.9%), with 6.9% referred. Sensitivity of a lower cytology triage threshold of ASCUS or above was 85.3% (95% CI = 78.2% to 90.8%), with 58.6% referred. Conclusions: HC 2 testing for cancer-associated HPV DNA is a viable option in the management of women with ASCUS. It has greater sensitivity to detect CIN3 or above and specificity comparable to a single additional cytologic test indicating ASCUS or above.
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