Cervical cytology and human papillomavirus among asymptomatic healthy volunteers in Vientiane, Lao PDR

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women living in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR). This study examines cervical cytology using a liquid-based cytology (LBC) method and reports the presence of high-risk (HR) human papillomavirus (HPV). METHODS: We collected cervical samples from 1475 asymptomatic and healthy volunteers from six hospitals in Lao PDR. A total of 1422 volunteers (mean age 39.1 ± 6.4 years, range 30-54 years) were included in the final analysis. We performed HPV typing using the polymerase chain reaction technique to detect HR-HPV samples with abnormal cytology. RESULTS: The overall rates of abnormal cytology and HR-HPV–positive in the samples were 9.3% (132/1422) and 47.7% (63/132), respectively. The samples with abnormal cytology included 13 high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and one squamous cell carcinoma case. The results showed that the most common type of HPV was HPV16 (20.5%) followed by HPV58 (9.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Healthy women in Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR, have high rates of abnormal cervical cytology and are likely to be HR-HPV-positive. A system for detection and prevention of cervical cancer in these women should be developed in the near future. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-017-3900-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.