Cervical Cancer Screening by Association of Liquid-Based Cytology with Real-Time PCR for High-Risk Human Papillomavirus in Women Assisted in a Clinical Analysis Laboratory

The aim of this study is to determine HPV infection prevalence, to perform association of liquid-based cytology (LBC) with DNA molecular analyses of high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) and to verify viral behavior in women who sought diagnostic services of the institution more than once, as well as providing relevant information to medical professionals regarding the primary screening for cervical cancer. The study was observational, descriptive and retrospective. For screening, HR-HPV detection and genotyping were performed by real-time PCR using cobas® HPV Test system. Considering a total of 987 samples, a prevalence of 38.50% of women in the age group between 31 and 40 years was observed, 25.03% with detection of HR-HPV, 5.47% with presence of cellular morphological changes, and 4.25% showed a detectable HR-HPV combination with altered LBC. DNA detection for HR-HPV was shown to be significantly associated with the presence of cellular morphological changes (p < 0.0001), and the relative risk has demonstrated that one in seven women with detectable HR-HPV may present cellular morphological changes. The HR-HPV prevalence decreased with increasing age. The molecular biology test used is shown to be a useful tool in diagnosis and HPV infection monitoring. This is effective as a preventive diagnostic strategy for precursor lesion development and cervical cancer. The recommendation of a new algorithm as an option for primary screening uses high sensitivity and risk stratification of molecular biology, together with high specificity of cytology for an ideal balance in screening for cervical cancer.