Cervical pathology in cytology-negative/HPV-positive women: results from Lampang Cancer Hospital, Thailand.

BACKGROUND To evaluate the cervical pathology of cytology-negative/high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) positive-women. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study recruited 4,583 women aged 30-70 years who had undergone cervical screening by liquid-based cytology and HR-HPV test (14 HR-HPV types) at Lampang Cancer Hospital during October 2012 to July 2013. Colposcopy was carried out in all women. RESULTS One hundred and ninety-two (4.19%) women were found to be cytology-negative/HR-HPV-positive. However, 23 cases were excluded because of incomplete information, leaving 169 women for further analyses. Of these 169, 45 (26.6%) were infected with HPV 16/18 and 49 (29.0%) with multiple genotypes of HR-HPV. Nineteen of 169 (11.24%) women were found to have CIN 2-3. No women in the present study had AIS or invasive cervical lesions. Prevalence of CIN 2-3 among women infected with HPV 16/18 was 15.6% which was higher than the 9.68% in those with non-HPV 16/18 oncogenic types. CONCLUSIONS Overall, 11% of cytology-negative/HR-HPV-positive women had significant cervical lesions. Risk of harboring such lesions was substantially increased among those who were HPV 16/18 positive.