Mette Tranberg

High-risk human papillomavirus testing in first-void urine as a novel and non-invasive cervical cancer screening modality—a Danish diagnostic test accuracy study

First-void urine (FVU) collection for high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) testing has game-changing potential to improve cervical cancer prevention among under-screened women who remain unreached by clinician-based cervical cancer screening and vaginal self-sampling. Yet, the wide variation in the clinical accuracy of hrHPV testing in urine for detecting high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2 + /CIN3 +) across studies and clinical settings highlights the importance of local piloting and validation. This study determined the relative clinical accuracy of hrHPV testing in FVU versus clinician-collected cervical samples to detect CIN2 + /CIN3 + in a Danish referral population. In a diagnostic test accuracy study, paired FVU (10 mL Colli-Pee device; index test) and cervical samples (Cervex Combi brush; comparator test) were obtained from 325 women aged 23-64 years (median age 36.0 years (IQR 29-46) who were either referred for colposcopy and biopsy taking or a cervical excision (reference test; available for all participants). Samples were tested using Allplex HR HPV DNA extended genotyping assay. Same absolute cut-off for hrHPV positivity applied for cervical samples was used for FVU. Of the 325 women, 145 (44.6%), 180 (55.4%), and 138 (42.5%) were diagnosed with < CIN2, CIN2 + , and CIN3 + , respectively. Sensitivity to detect CIN2 + (ratio 0.97, 95% CI 0.92-1.02, p This is the first study proving similar CIN2 + /CIN3 + sensitivity for FVU-hrHPV testing using the 10-mL Colli-Pee device and Allplex HR HPV assay compared to testing in cervical samples. From an implementation perspective, further research is needed to gather additional clinical accuracy and acceptability data on hrHPV testing of FVU-device collection in under-screened populations to support its broader integration into screening programmes. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT05065853.

Increasing coverage in cervical and colorectal cancer screening by leveraging attendance at breast cancer screening: A cluster-randomised, crossover trial

Background Screening participation remains suboptimal in cervical cancer (CC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening despite their effectiveness in reducing cancer-related morbidity and mortality. We investigated the effectiveness of an intervention by leveraging the high participation rate in breast cancer (BC) screening as an opportunity to offer self-sampling kits to nonparticipants in CC and CRC screening. Methods and findings A pragmatic, unblinded, cluster-randomised, multiple period, crossover trial was conducted in 5 BC screening units in the Central Denmark Region (CDR) between September 1, 2021 and May 25, 2022. On each of 100 selected weekdays, 1 BC screening unit was randomly allocated as the intervention unit while the remaining units served as controls. Women aged 50 to 69 years attending BC screening at the intervention unit were offered administrative check-up on their CC screening status (ages 50 to 64 years) and CRC screening status (aged 50 to 69), and women with overdue screening were offered self-sampling. Women in the control group received only standard screening offers according to the organised programmes. The primary outcomes were differences between the intervention group and the control group in the total screening coverage for the 2 programmes and in screening participation among women with overdue screening, measured 6 months after the intervention. These were assessed using intention-to-treat analysis, reporting risk differences with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A total of 27,116 women were included in the trial, with 5,618 (20.7%) in the intervention group and 21,498 (79.3%) in the control group. Six months after the intervention, total coverage was higher in the intervention group as compared with the control group in CC screening (88.3 versus 83.5, difference 4.8 percentage points, 95% CI [3.6, 6.0]; p &lt; 0.001) and in CRC screening (79.8 versus 76.0, difference 3.8 percentage points, 95% CI [2.6, 5.1]; p &lt; 0.001). Among women overdue with CC screening, participation in the intervention group was 32.0% compared with 6.1% in the control group (difference 25.8 percentage points, 95% CI [22.0, 29.6]; p &lt; 0.001). In CRC screening, participation among women overdue with screening in the intervention group was 23.8% compared with 8.9% in the control group (difference 14.9 percentage points, 95% CI [12.3, 17.5]; p &lt; 0.001). Women who did not participate in BC screening were not included in this study. Conclusions Offering self-sampling to women overdue with CC and CRC screening when they attend BC screening was a feasible intervention, resulting in an increase in participation and total coverage. Other interventions are required to reach women who are not participating in BC screening. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05022511. The record of processing activities for research projects in the Central Denmark Region (R. No.: 1-16-02-217-21).

Improving diagnostic of cervical dysplasia among postmenopausal women aged ≥50 years using local vaginal oestrogen treatment prior to colposcopy: study protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial (the IDEAL study)

Introduction Colposcopy is the most important diagnostic tool to detect cervical precancerous lesions and thereby prevention of cervical cancer. Due to age-dependent changes of the cervix, colposcopy is challenging in postmenopausal women, as the majority will have a non-visible transformation zone, resulting in increased risk of missing disease, a diagnostic cone biopsy and prolonged follow-up with repeated colposcopies. This study will be among the first to investigate, if treatment with vaginal oestrogen prior to colposcopy will improve the colposcopy performance, to ensure accurate and timely diagnosis of precancerous cervical lesions among postmenopausal women. Methods and analysis A randomised blinded controlled multicentre study. Enrolment will be performed at gynaecology departments in Central Denmark Region and Region of Southern Denmark. A total of 150 postmenopausal women aged ≥50 years referred for colposcopy due to abnormal cervical screening results will be randomised 1:1 to either pretreatment with vaginal application of Vagifem 30 µg or placebo once a day for 14 days prior to colposcopy. The primary outcome will be to compare the percentage of women in the two groups with a visible transformation zone at colposcopy, and biopsies representative of the transformation zone. Secondary outcomes will be the proportion of detected cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or higher in the cervical biopsies; the proportion of diagnostics cone biopsies; the patients’ report on possible side effects and compliance to the pretreatment. Ethics and dissemination The study has been approved by the Central Denmark Region Committee on Biomedical Research Ethics (1-10-72-34-22), the Central Denmark Regions’ Research Unit (1-16-02-72-22) and The Danish Health Authority (Danish Medicine Agency; 2022015030). The study’s EudraCT number is (1-23-456; 2022-000269-42) and it is registered on www.clinicaltrials.gov . The local Good Clinical Practice (GCP) unit will supervise and monitor the study closely before, during and after the study period. Findings will be disseminated in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented in relevant conferences. Trial registration number NCT05283421 .

Urine collection in cervical cancer screening – analytical comparison of two HPV DNA assays

Abstract Background To reach non-participants, reluctant to undergo clinician-based cervical cancer screening and vaginal self-sampling, urine collection for high-risk human papillomavirus detection (hrHPV) may be valuable. Using two hrHPV DNA assays, we evaluated the concordance of hrHPV positivity in urine samples in comparison with vaginal self-samples and cervical cytology samples taken by the general practitioner (GP). We also studied women’s acceptance of urine collection and preferences towards the different sampling procedures. Methods One hundred fifty paired self-collected urine and vaginal samples and GP-collected cervical cytology samples were obtained from 30 to 59-year-old women diagnosed with ASC-US within the Danish cervical cancer screening program. After undergoing cervical cytology at the GP, the women collected first-void urine and vaginal samples at home and completed a questionnaire. Each sample was hrHPV DNA tested by the GENOMICA CLART® and COBAS® 4800 assays. Concordance in hrHPV detection between sample types was determined using Kappa ( k ) statistics. Sensitivity and specificity of hrHPV detection in urine was calculated using cervical sampling as reference. Results With the COBAS assay, urine showed good concordance to the vaginal ( k  = 0.66) self-samples and cervical samples ( k  = 0.66) for hrHPV detection. The corresponding concordance was moderate ( k  = 0.59 and k  = 0.47) using CLART. Compared to cervical sampling, urinary hrHPV detection had a sensitivity of 63.9% and a specificity of 96.5% using COBAS; compared with 51.6 and 92.4% for CLART. Invalid hrHPV test rates were 1.8% for COBAS and 26.9% for CLART. Urine collection was well-accepted and 42.3% of the women ranked it as the most preferred future screening procedure. Conclusions Urine collection provides a well-accepted screening option. With COBAS, higher concordance between urine and vaginal self-sampling and cervical sampling for hrHPV detection was found compared to CLART. Urinary hrHPV detection with COBAS is feasible, but its accuracy may need to be improved before urine collection at home can be offered to non-participants reluctant to both cervical sampling and vaginal self-sampling.

Expanding the upper age limit for cervical cancer screening: a protocol for a nationwide non-randomised intervention study

IntroductionCervical cancer screening ceases between the ages of 60 and 65 in most countries. Yet, a relatively high proportion of cervical cancers are diagnosed in women above the screening age. This study will evaluate if screening of women aged 65–69 years may result in increased detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) compared with women not invited to screening. Invited women may choose between general practitioner (GP)-based screening or cervico-vaginal self-sampling. Furthermore, the study will assess if self-sampling is superior to GP-based screening in reaching long-term unscreened women.Methods and analysisThis population-based non-randomised intervention study will include 10 000 women aged 65–69 years, with no record of a cervical cytology sample or screening invitation in the 5 years before inclusion. Women who have opted-out of the screening programme or have a record of hysterectomy or cervical amputation are excluded. Women residing in the Central Denmark Region (CDR) are allocated to the intervention group, while women residing in the remaining four Danish regions are allocated to the reference group. The intervention group is invited for human papillomavirus-based screening by attending routine screening at the GP or by requesting a self-sampling kit. The reference group receives standard care which is the opportunity to have a cervical cytology sample obtained at the GP or by a gynaecologist. The study started in April 2019 and will run over the next 4.5 years. The primary outcome will be the proportion of CIN2+ detected in the intervention and reference groups. In the intervention group, the proportion of long-term unscreened women attending GP-based screening or self-sampling will be compared.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been submitted to the Ethical Committee in the CDR which deemed that the study was not notifiable to the Committee and informed consent is therefore not required. The study is approved by the Danish Data Protection Regulation and the Danish Patient Safety Authority. Results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberNCT04114968.

Implementation of p16/Ki67 dual stain cytology in a Danish routine screening laboratory: Importance of adequate training and experience

AbstractBackgroundImmunocytochemical staining with p16/Ki67 has been suggested as a promising triage biomarker in cervical cancer screening. As dual staining is a subjective method, proper training may be required to ensure safe implementation in routine laboratories and reduce risk of misclassification. We determined concordance between novice evaluators and an expert, stratified by number of slides reviewed at three reading points.MethodsThe study was conducted at the Department of Pathology, Randers, Denmark. Women were eligible if they were aged ≥45, had been enrolled in one of two ongoing clinical studies, and had a dual stain slide available. Dual staining was performed using the CINtec plus assay. Slides were randomly selected from three reading points at which novice evaluators had reviewed &lt;30, ~300, and ≥500 dual stain slides respectively. Level of concordance was estimated using Cohen's Kappa, κ.ResultsOf 600 eligible slides, 50 slides were selected for review as recommended by the manufacturer. Median age was 68 years (range: 58‐74). Overall concordance was good (κ = 0.68, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.60‐0.76), with an overall agreement of 84% (95% CI: 70.9%‐92.8%). Concordance improved with increasing number of slides reviewed at a given reading point, from a moderate concordance (κ = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.05‐0.90) after reviewing &lt;30 slides to a good concordance (κ = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.20‐0.88) and a very good concordance (κ = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.66‐1.00) after reviewing ~300 and ≥500 slides, respectively.ConclusionsWhen interpreting dual stain slides from older women, concordance increased slightly as novice evaluators received more training and experience. Although further evaluation is warranted, these findings indicate that a significant amount of training and experience of novice evaluators may be needed to ensure accurate dual stain interpretation in this age group. Future studies should accurately describe training and experience of evaluators to enable a better comparison of concordance and diagnostic accuracy across studies.Trial registrationNCT04114968 and NCT04298957.

Value of a catch-up HPV test in women aged 65 and above: A Danish population-based nonrandomized intervention study

Background High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) test is replacing cytology as the primary cervical cancer screening test due to superior sensitivity, but in most countries women ≥65 years have never had an HPV test despite they account for around 50% of cervical cancer deaths. We explored the effect of a catch-up HPV test among 65- to 69-year-old women without previous record of HPV-based screening. Methods and findings This population-based nonrandomized intervention study (quasi-experimental design) included Danish women aged 65 to 69 with no record of cervical cancer screening in the last ≥5.5 years and no HPV-exit test at age 60 to 64 at the time of study inclusion. Eligible women residing in the Central Denmark Region were invited for HPV screening either by attending clinician-based sampling or requesting a vaginal self-sampling kit (intervention group, n = 11,192). Women residing in the remaining four Danish regions received standard care which was the opportunity to have a cervical cytology collected for whatever reason (reference group, n = 33,387). Main outcome measures were detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) per 1,000 women eligible for the screening offer and the benefit–harm ratio of the intervention and standard practice measured as the number of colposcopies needed to detect one CIN2+ case. The minimum follow-up time was 13 months for all tested women (range: 13 to 25 months). In the intervention group, 6,965 (62.2%) were screened within 12 months from the date of study inclusion and 743 (2.2%) women had a cervical cytology collected in the reference group. The CIN2+ detection was significantly higher in the intervention group (3.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): [2.9, 5.3]; p &lt; 0.001; n = 44/11,192) as compared to the reference group (0.3, 95% CI: [0.2, 0.6]; n = 11/33,387). For the benefit–harm ratio, 11.6 (95% CI: [8.5, 15.8]; p = 0.69; n = 511/44) colposcopies were performed to detect one CIN2+ in the intervention group as compared to 10.1 (95% CI: [5.4, 18.8]; n = 111/11) colposcopies in the reference group. The study design entails a risk of confounding due to the lack of randomization. Conclusions The higher CIN2+ detection per 1,000 eligible women in the intervention group supports that a catch-up HPV test could potentially improve cervical cancer prevention in older women. This study informs the current scientific debate as to whether women aged 65 and above should be offered a catch-up HPV test if they never had an HPV test. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04114968.

Improving Diagnostics in Cervical Dysplasia

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide. It is caused by an infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). A persistent infection with HPV is associated with increased risk of precancerous lesions, which may further develop into cervical cancer. To reduce the disease burden, accurate and timely diagnosis of cervical precancerous lesions are crucial. To identify cervical precancerous lesions, women are referred to colposcopy, which is the most important diagnostic tools to detect cervical precancerous lesions. It allows close visualization of the cervix in order to collect biopsies in the area called transformation zone (TZ), which is where precancerous lesions develop. It is essential for the physician to identify the TZ during colposcopy in order to obtain correct diagnosis. For women aged ≥50 this is often a challenge as TZ naturally with age, will retract further into the cervical canal, making the area for sampling invisible, and thereby the colposcopy inadequate. Consequently, this increases the risk of developing cancer due to diagnostic delay, and the risk of several colposcopy examinations or overtreatment (cone biopsy), before a final diagnosis is achieved. Few studies suggest that pretreatment with local vaginal estrogen prior to colposcopy may improve visualization of the TZ. Thereby, obtaining more accurate biopsies from the cervix, and thus making a more accurate and timely diagnosis in the first outpatient visit. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate pre-diagnostic treatment with estrogen to improve the diagnosis of women with cervical precancerous lesions, in order to prevent cervical cancer. The study ia s randomized controlled double-blind multicenter study. The investigators will use information from Danish National Patient registry, and data from the Danish Pathology Data Bank. Enrollment will take place at the Departments of Gynecology in Denmark. Eligible women aged ≥ 50 years will be randomized 1:1 to receive local vaginal estrogen or placebo prior to the colposcopic examination. The investigators believe the results will provide the prerequisite for obtaining correct diagnosis, and thereby provide basis for choosing the right individualized examination- and treatment plan. The results will also contribute with important knowledge, that may help reduce the incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer.

Self-collected Vaginal and Urine Samples in HIV-positive Women

This study assesses topics as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), and cancer screening methods. The focus will be on evaluating feasibility of implementing novel cancer screening modalities in a low-resource setting in Guinea-Bissau and further to estimate the prevalence of the precancerous virus HPV amongst women living with HIV. In the study the investigators will collect urinary and vaginal self-samples for HPV testing, and further evaluate the feasibility of implementing the devices as screening modalities through questionnaires given to the women.

Urinary and Vaginal HPV Testing in Cervical Cancer Screening

Cervical cancer, caused by high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, poses a problem worldwide as it is the fourth most common female cancer. Fifty percent of all invasive cervical cancers occur among the 25% not attending cervical cancer screening. To reach these women, this project will contribute to the development of a novel and accurate urinary and vaginal screening tool, which allows women to collect the screening samples at home. This project tests the hypotheses: 1) urinary HPV testing is non-inferior to HPV testing on clinician-collected cervical samples for detection of high-grade cervical pre-cancer, 2) Vaginal HPV testing is non-inferior to HPV testing on clinician-collected cervical samples for detection of high-grade cervical pre-cancer and 3) DNA methylation testing is suitable as a colposcopy triage test among women with HPV-positive urine and/or vaginal samples to prevent unnecessary colposcopies and overtreatment of women without clinically meaningful HPV infections. If confirmed, urinary and vaginal HPV testing could revolutionize todays screening programs and keep Denmark at the forefront of cervical cancer prevention.

Three Birds With One Stone

The overall aim of the study is to increase participation rates in cervical cancer (CCU) and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programmes in Denmark by offering home-based CCU and CRC screening to women who are overdue for one or both screening programmes when attending breast cancer screening

Offering Cervical Cancer Screening to Older Women

This study evaluates the effect and feasibility of expanding the target population in the Danish cervical cancer screening program to include women aged 65 to 69 years. The study also evaluates if HPV self-sampling constitutes an appropriate screening method among older women.