Abstract

TO THE EDITOR: Datta and colleagues (1) reported that high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) was widespread among women receiving cervical screening. Their study showed that the prevalence of cytology results with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), or adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) was statistically significantly higher in women younger than age 30 years than in those age 30 years or older (P 0.001), whereas the median age at cervical cancer diagnosis was 48 years in the United States (2). More than 50% of women with HSIL have cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or greater, and 2% of women with HSIL have invasive carcinoma. However, LSIL is associated with a transient HPV infection in adolescents, and both HPV infection and LSIL usually resolve over time (3). A study involving 187 persons age 13 to 22 years with LSIL showed that 61% of the lesions regressed within 1 year and 91% regressed within 3 years (4). Because the risk for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or 3 in women with LSIL differs from that in women with HSIL, management of LSIL is different from that of HSIL. Clinicians will have difficulties in drawing a definite conclusion from the study because the number of women with LSIL, HSIL, and AIS was not shown separately. We ask the authors to provide information on the number of enrollees and the prevalence of high-risk HPV among women with LSIL, HSIL, and AIS, respectively.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.