Presence of histopathological premalignant lesions and infection caused by high-risk genotypes of human papillomavirus in patients with suspicious cytological and colposcopy results: A prospective study

Background/Aim. In patients with premalignant cervical lesions, human papillomavirus infection, at any moment, may be spontaneously eliminated, or may persist or lead to the transformation of cervical epithelium to a lower of higher degree. Due to that, it is necessary to wisely select the patients who are at high risk of cancer development. Aim of the study is to establish the interdependence between suspicious Papanicolaou test and colposcopy with the infection caused by high-risk genotypes of human papillomavirus and the presence of premalignant cervical lesions. Methods. This prospective study used cytological, colposcopy, real-time polymerase chain reaction of high-risk genotypes of human papillomavirus and histopathological analysis of cervical biopsy specimen. Our research included 2,578 female patients in Clinical Centre of Montenegro, who were sent to cytological analyses during 2012, 2013 and 2014. The study included 80 women who had to submit their biopsy specimens due to a suspicious Pap test and atypical colposcopy results. Results. In the group of 80 (3.1% n=80/2578) of the selected female patients with suspicious Papanicolaou test and colposcopy, 2/3 or 56 of them (70%) had cervicitis, and 1/3 or 24 (30%) had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The most common type in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia was HPV16 in 8 female patients, i.e. 61.53% out of the number of infected or 33.33% out of the total number of premalignant lesions. Conclusion. Patients with suspicious Papanicolaou test, colposcopy results and infection which is caused by high-risk human papilloma virus infection (HPV 16 in particular) often have premalignant cervical lesions. In these cases, pathohistological confirmation of lesions is mandatory, since it serves as a definitive diagnostic procedure.