Tag Archives: Human papillomavirus

August 2023—Cytology gynecologic statistical laboratory data must be analyzed in the context of changing screening modalities and patient populations. This is especially important with the increasing use of primary high-risk HPV screening because diagnostic metrics will be markedly different in that patient population.

January 2021—It’s a watershed moment when an influential standard-setting organization, the American Cancer Society, announces that a test widely used for decades should be supplanted—especially when the test is the linchpin of the most successful cancer screening program in U.S. history.

May 2020—According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study from 2008 to 2012, there are about 16,000 cases of HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma per year in the United States. These carcinomas tend to present with small primary lesion and early nodal metastases as an initial manifestation of the disease. Furthermore, carcinoma of unknown primary presenting as a cystic metastasis in the head and neck has been linked frequently to oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas, mainly of palatine tonsils and base of the tongue.

May 2019—In the November-December 2018 issue of the Journal of the American Society of Cytopathology is a fascinating analysis of human papillomavirus screening policies in Australia by researchers from New Zealand, a rebuttal by members of an Australian Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines Working Party, and a thoughtful editorial by cervical cancer screening experts from the United States and England.

February 2018—Like a pair of one-size-fits-all jeans, testing all head and neck carcinomas for human papillomavirus may have seemed like a good idea at one time. In many cases, in fact, HPV testing is just what treating clinicians and patients need. On the other hand, not every head and neck case requires it. Now, a newly published CAP guideline should help physicians figure out the right fit in multiple settings.

January 2018—Diane Harper, MD, MPH, and Leslie DeMars, MD, provide an extensive review of the efficacy of available FDA-approved HPV vaccines in different age groups and describe immunogenicity findings in particular (Gynecol Oncol. 2017;146:196–204). The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend a two-dose vaccine for younger children due to high rates of seroconversion and antibody titers in this age group. Girls age 15 and older should continue to get three doses.

January 2016—Anal cancer incidence is on the rise in North America with rates of both invasive and in situ squamous carcinomas of the anus increasing sharply over the past several decades. While women have the highest overall likelihood of developing anal carcinomas, certain male subpopulations (namely men who have sex with men and those who are HIV positive) are at a dramatically increased risk of developing squamous precursors and carcinomas of the anal canal.

October 2015—Not long after the FDA approved a primary HPV screening algorithm for women age 25 and older, in April 2014, things began to stir on the Western front—specifically, in Bellingham, Wash., where Northwest Pathology is based. “We started offering it pretty much right after the FDA approved it,” says Ryan Fortna, MD, PhD, director of molecular pathology at the regional, independent anatomic pathology group.

August 2015—The Food and Drug Administration in 2001 approved the use of high-risk HPV testing to triage ASCUS Pap test results (reflex testing). Two years later the FDA expanded the indications for hrHPV testing to include its use as an adjunct to cytology in women over age 30 (cotesting). The rationale for age 30 as a cotesting cutoff point was that hrHPV is common in sexually active young women and most infections are transient and clear without medical intervention.

September 2014—With the FDA having approved use of the Roche Cobas assay for human papillomavirus as a primary standalone screen for cervical cancer in women 25 and older, expert panels are faced with the challenge of working the algorithm into current best practice recommendations for cervical cancer screening.

June 2014—When Mark Stoler, MD, stood up to speak at the 30th annual Clinical Virology Symposium on April 29, his topic was timely. Dr. Stoler was presenting three-year followup data from the ATHENA trial, in which a primary human papillomavirus screening algorithm based on the Roche Cobas HPV assay was compared with traditional cytology and a hybrid cotesting algorithm for their ability to prevent cervical cancer.

February 2014—The Cytopathology Education and Technology Consortium in 2009 issued a statement on human papillomavirus DNA test utilization that was published in multiple journals. This statement was a concise summary of the clinical indications for high-risk or oncogenic HPV testing based on guidelines of the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology and the American Cancer Society published from 2002 through 2007. These organizations have since published newer consensus guidelines addressing HPV testing, and the previous summary no longer reflects current screening and management guidelines.

December 2013—Not that any cancer is ever “easy,” but until relatively recently, the culprit in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas was clear. The vast majority were caused by “smoking, smoking, and smoking,” says William Westra, MD, professor of pathology, oncology, and otolaryngology/head and neck surgery, and associate director, surgical pathology, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Call this HNSCC’s antediluvian era.

March 2013—First identified in an HIV patient in 1998, HPV 90 is a genotype of the human papillomavirus that, until now, has received little attention. It is not counted as one of the few well-defined high-risk genotypes, like HPV 16 and HPV 18, that are known to cause the majority of cervical cancer cases.