Low Incidence Of Cervical Cancer Research Articles

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, low cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates might limit the cost-effectiveness of vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV). We examined the effect on cervical cancer incidence and mortality of adding HPV vaccination to the current Dutch cervical cancer screening situation and calculated the cost-effectiveness. Costs and effects were estimated under favorable assumptions (ie, that HPV vaccination provides lifelong protection against 70% of all cervical cancers, has no side effects, and is administered to all women regardless of their risk of cervical cancer) by using the microsimulation screening analysis (MISCAN) model. The impact of changes in the price of vaccination, number of booster vaccinations, vaccination attendance rate, vaccination efficacy, cervical cancer incidence level, and quality-of-life assumptions was investigated in sensitivity analyses. Using the current price of euro118 per vaccine dose and with discounting of costs and effects at an annual rate of 3%, adding HPV vaccination to the current Dutch screening situation had a cost-effectiveness ratio of euro53 500 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. The threshold price per vaccine dose at which the cost-effectiveness of vaccination would correspond to an acceptability threshold of euro20 000 per QALY gained was euro40. With the addition of one or more (up to four) booster vaccinations during a lifetime, this threshold price decreased to euro33 for one booster (to euro16 for four boosters). With a doubling of the cervical cancer incidence level, the cost-effectiveness ratio was euro24 400 per QALY gained and the maximum price per dose at threshold of euro20 000 was euro97. All threshold prices were lower under less favorable effectiveness assumptions. In the Netherlands, HPV vaccination is not cost-effective even under favorable assumptions. To become cost-effective, the vaccine price would have to be decreased considerably, depending on the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Ethnic Patterns of Cytologic Abnormalities in Cervical Smears in Suriname, a High-Risk Area for Cervical Cancer

To determine the prevalence of cytologic abnormalities in cervical smears from women attending the first organized screening program in Suriname and to compare the prevalences in 4 Surinamese ethnicities with different cervical carcinoma incidences.Cervical scrapes were taken from women with 4 different ethnicities: Maroons, Amerindians, Javanese and Hindustani. Papanicolaou staining and cytologic screening were performed on 807 cervical smears. RESULTS Cervical cytologic abnormalities were seen in 13.4%, of which 8.1% (62 of 764) had atypical changes, 2.6% (20 of 764) had mild and 2.6% (20 of 764) had moderate and severe dysplasia/carcinoma in situ (CIS). The cytologic abnormalities varied between the ethnicities: 42.1% (83 of 197) in the Maroons and 2.3% (4 of 176), 5.0% (9 of 183) and 3.0% (6 of 208) in the Javanese, Amerindians, and Hindustani, respectively.The high prevalence of moderate and severe dysplasia/CIS in all ethnicities correlates with the high cervical carcinoma incidence in Suriname. A significantly higher prevalence of mild abnormalities in the Maroons was observed; it did not reflect the relatively low cervical cancer incidence in this ethnicity. However, this can be explained by the possibility that these women have a different sexual lifestyle, leading to a higher prevalence of

Low risk of cervical cancer during a long period after negative screening in the Netherlands.

A condition for effective cervical cancer screening is a low incidence of cervical cancer after negative screening compared to that in the absence of screening. This relative risk was studied for the period 1994–1997 in the Netherlands and compared with previous studies. All cases of invasive cervical cancer diagnosed from 1994 to 1997 in the Netherlands were related to woman-years at risk, stratified by age, number of preceding negative screenings and time since the preceding negative screening. These incidence rates were compared with that before screening started in the Netherlands. The relative risk increases from 0.13 in the first year after screening to 0.24 after more than 6 years after screening for women with one previous negative screening. These figures reduce to 0.06 and 0.18, respectively, for women with two or more previous screenings. However, these estimates are less favourable when account is taken of the likely decrease in risk for cervical cancer in the period studied. Our data show a low relative risk of cervical cancer for several years following the last negative Pap smear. However, the denominator of the relative risk, that is, the incidence without screening, may have been overestimated. This applies also to the IARC multicountry study, and may have caused too optimistic expectations about the effectiveness of cervical cancer screening.

Codon 72 polymorphism of p53 in Israeli Jewish cervical cancer patients and healthy women

Recently it has been found that the presence of homozygous arginine polymorphism at codon 72 of p53, represents a significant risk factor in the development of HPV-associated cervical cancer. The incidence of cervical carcinoma is persistently very low in Israeli Jewish women for unknown reasons. The incidence among those of North African origin is relatively higher. The aim of the present study was to assess the frequency distribution of the p53 homozygous arginine polymorphism in cervical cancer patients and in a population sample of healthy Israeli Jewish women in order to determine whether the incidence pattern among them is genetically based. The cases consisted of 23 Israeli Jewish patients with histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix. A group of 162 randomly chosen Israeli Jewish healthy participants, considered to represent the general population, comprised the controls. The germline p53 polymorphism at codon 72 was determined by PCR in DNA obtained from a blood sample taken from each subject. Homozygous arginine was found in 34.8% of cases and in only 14.8% of controls. This difference was statistically significant (P= 0.01). The frequency of homozygous arginine polymorphism in controls was lower than in any other population hitherto reported. It was significantly more common among those of North African than among those of other origin (30.3% vs. 10.8%;P< 0.01). It may be assumed that the low incidence of cervical cancer in Israeli Jewish women and the differences between the ethnic groups may be related to the frequency pattern of the homozygous arginine p53 polymorphism

Codon 72 polymorphism of p53 in Israeli Jewish cervical cancer patients and healthy women.

Recently it has been found that the presence of homozygous arginine polymorphism at codon 72 of p53, represents a significant risk factor in the development of HPV-associated cervical cancer. The incidence of cervical carcinoma is persistently very low in Israeli Jewish women for unknown reasons. The incidence among those of North African origin is relatively higher. The aim of the present study was to assess the frequency distribution of the p53 homozygous arginine polymorphism in cervical cancer patients and in a population sample of healthy Israeli Jewish women in order to determine whether the incidence pattern among them is genetically based. The cases consisted of 23 Israeli Jewish patients with histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix. A group of 162 randomly chosen Israeli Jewish healthy participants, considered to represent the general population, comprised the controls. The germline p53 polymorphism at codon 72 was determined by PCR in DNA obtained from a blood sample taken from each subject. Homozygous arginine was found in 34.8% of cases and in only 14.8% of controls. This difference was statistically significant (P = 0.01). The frequency of homozygous arginine polymorphism in controls was lower than in any other population hitherto reported. It was significantly more common among those of North African than among those of other origin (30.3% vs. 10.8%; P < 0.01). It may be assumed that the low incidence of cervical cancer in Israeli Jewish women and the differences between the ethnic groups may be related to the frequency pattern of the homozygous arginine p53 polymorphism

Efficacy of a liquid-based thin layer method for cervical cancer screening in a population with a low incidence of cervical cancer

The performance of the ThinPrep(R) Pap Testtrade mark (TP) (Cytyc Corp., Boxborough, MA) for detection of cervical cancer precursors in a population with a low incidence of disease was evaluated. This prospective trial compared results obtained with TP to those obtained with the standard cytologic smear in women from the general community who were being screened for cervical cancer from January 1, 1995-December 31, 1997 by physicians in private practice (n x 130, 381 conventional examinations and 39,864 TP examinations). In the TP series there was a significant increase in the proportion of "satisfactory" examinations (91.9% TP vs. 72.2% conventional) and positive diagnoses (5.5% TP vs 2.4% conventional, odds ratio x 2.21; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.08-2.34). The likelihood of detecting a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) by TP was significantly greater than in controls (odds ratio x 1.86; 95% CI, 1.68-2.06). Detection of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), or atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS), was significantly greater in the TP series than in controls (LSIL odds ratio x 3.41; 95% CI, 3.07-3.79; ASCUS odds ratio x 1.68; 95% CI, 1.56-1.82). A histologic lesion was confirmed in 141 (93%) of the biopsies for HSIL (130 HSIL or greater, 10 LSIL, 1 SIL not otherwise specified). In conclusion, both diagnostic sensitivity and sample adequacy were significantly improved using the ThinPrep(R) Pap test under routine conditions in an outpatient population with a low incidence of cervical cancer.

Efficacy of a liquid‐based thin layer method for cervical cancer screening in a population with a low incidence of cervical cancer

The performance of the ThinPrep® Pap Test™ (TP) (Cytyc Corp., Boxborough, MA) for detection of cervical cancer precursors in a population with a low incidence of disease was evaluated. This prospective trial compared results obtained with TP to those obtained with the standard cytologic smear in women from the general community who were being screened for cervical cancer from January 1, 1995–December 31, 1997 by physicians in private practice (n × 130,381 conventional examinations and 39,864 TP examinations). In the TP series there was a significant increase in the proportion of “satisfactory” examinations (91.9% TP vs. 72.2% conventional) and positive diagnoses (5.5% TP vs 2.4% conventional, odds ratio × 2.21; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.08–2.34). The likelihood of detecting a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) by TP was significantly greater than in controls (odds ratio × 1.86; 95% CI, 1.68–2.06). Detection of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), or atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS), was significantly greater in the TP series than in controls (LSIL odds ratio × 3.41; 95% CI, 3.07–3.79; ASCUS odds ratio × 1.68; 95% CI, 1.56–1.82). A histologic lesion was confirmed in 141 (93%) of the biopsies for HSIL (130 HSIL or greater, 10 LSIL, 1 SIL not otherwise specified). In conclusion, both diagnostic sensitivity and sample adequacy were significantly improved using the ThinPrep® Pap test under routine conditions in an outpatient population with a low incidence of cervical cancer. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2000;22:52–59. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Variations in survival for invasive cervical cancer among European women, 1978-89. EUROCARE Working Group.

To analyze cervical cancer survival trends in 10 European countries using models that estimate the proportion of cured patients (having the same life expectancy as the general population) and the survival of fatal cases (who die from cervical cancer). We considered 40,906 cases diagnosed over 12 years (1978-89) collected from cancer registries participating in EUROCARE. From 1978 to 1989, 5-year relative survival in Europe improved (60%-->63%). The proportion of cured patients increased slightly but significantly (53%-->55%, p = 0.05). For countries with poorer survival at the end of the 1970s the proportion of cured patients increased faster than average, particularly evident in England (49%-->56%) and Scotland (44%-->53%). By contrast, in Finland, Sweden and Germany with organized screening, 5-year survival and cure rate did not improve, but incidence declined to very low levels. Cervical screening can explain the trends in cervical cancer survival: this identifies premalignant lesions, reduces incidence and selectively prevents less aggressive cancers. The decreased proportion of the latter means that survival does not improve in countries with low incidence of cervical cancer. The increased proportion of cured patients with time shows that survival improvement was not due simply to earlier diagnosis with no patient advantage.

Diagnostic and therapeutic advances in gynecologic oncology: screening for gynecologic cancer.

Endometrial carcinoma is associated with a good prognosis because patients tend to present with early disease. Mass screening is therefore unlikely to be of benefit. High-risk populations may benefit from screening, but no prospective studies have demonstrated a benefit in any population. The most promising modality for screening appears to be TVS, and a normal TVS may also preclude the need for further evaluation of symptomatic patients. The appropriate use of TVS in patients on tamoxifen is currently unknown. Hysteroscopy and endometrial biopsy may have a role in the evaluation of symptomatic patients but do not appear promising as screening modalities.

Sociocultural factors associated with cervical cancer in Bendel State, Nigeria.

This is an analysis of data on 50 patients treated for cervical cancer at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria, from March 1973 to December 1976. The data were collected through a questionnaire designed to obtained information concerning various sociocultural factors about cervical cancer patients. Study results showed that 80% of the patients had no formal education and came from lower socioeconomic groups. Most of the patients (88%) married before the age of 20, and 76% reported frequent coitus. The patients were high-parity women; but high parity is also typical of the general female population. Since the culture demands that the male population be circumcised, a low incidence of cervical cancer might be expected. The occurrence of 65 cases of cancer of the cervix out of a total of 15 049 hospital gynecologic cases examined during the study period is possible evidence of such a low incidence in this population.

Low incidence of cervical cancer in Utah

Utah has the highest birth rate in the nation, but cervical cancer incidence is 26% below the national average. This lower occurrence of cancer is accounted for by the Mormon population, which has incidence rates about 50% below those of the nation and of Utah non-Mormons. Reported venereal disease and illegitimacy rates are very low in Utah, which may explain low cervical cancer incidence. Invasive cervical cancer is higher in the rural than urban areas of Utah, in contrast to findings of other studies. Higher in situ incidence in the urban areas suggests more active cytologic screening, which may account for lower invasive rates. A socioeconomic gradient (though not as steep as found in other studies) is also demonstrated in the urban cervical cancer incidence data. These findings are consistent with the concept of cervical cancer as a venereal disease, and emphasize multiple sexual partners and premarital sexual activity in its etiology.