Type-specific persistence or regression of human papillomavirus genotypes in women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 1: A prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) persistence or regression in women with or less than low-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). METHODS: This prospective cohort study included patients with or less than cytological low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (or histologically CIN 1 when biopsy was performed) combined with HPV infection. The cohort was collected from July 2006 to November 2011 at Korea University Guro Hospital. Follow-up was performed with liquid-based Papanicolaou test, hybrid capture 2 test, AnyplexTM II HPV 28 Detection, colposcopic biopsy if necessary every 4 months. All patients were prospectively observed without treatment. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-seven patients were enrolled. Of these, 21 patients whose minimum follow-up periods were less than 8 months were excluded. Finally, one hundred sixteen patients were included and followed-up. Median follow-up period was 16 months. In case of high-risk HPVs, HPV 53 was the most prevalent type, followed by HPV 52, 68, 66, and 16. HPV 16 took 10.6 months to regress spontaneously, which was the longest period among the 10 most prevalent high-risk HPV genotypes. In case of spontaneous regression, HPV clearance was always accompanied by lesion clearance. A total of 13 patients showed disease progression either cytologically or histologically. Two cases of CIN 3 were confirmed by colposcopy-directed biopsy during follow-up, which were subsequently managed by conization. CONCLUSION: HPV 16 is the most persistent HPV genotypes. Studies with longer term follow-up and larger sample size are needed to demonstrate whether persistence of HPV 16 is directly correlated with progression of low-grade lesions.