Avaliação da efetividade da genotipagem na triagem da infecção pelo Papilomavírus Humano (HPV) – Análise de resultados

Abstract

Cervical cancer is a serious public health problem and is directly associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide and has a high potential to evolve into malignancy, when arising from persistent and recurrent infections by types of high oncogenic potential. The main objective of this study is to evaluate a primary screening model for HPV infection based on the detection of viral DNA through the molecular microarray technique and to evaluate the main genotypes expressed, in order to establish a well-defined relationship between the incidence of high- oncotic potential with the presence of cytological alterations. This is a retrospective observational study analyzing the database of the Inside Diagnostics, Research and Development S.A laboratory, in São Paulo, in which the results of 1951 patients who underwent the HPV genotyping exam and oncotic cytology concomitantly, in the period from January to December 2022. The prevalence of HPV infection in the study population was 19.99%, with high-risk HPV infection being the most frequently found, present in 61.53% of cases. Genotype 16 (21.51%) was the most common among high-risk infections and type 54 (21.02%) the most common in low-risk HPV infections. HPV infections were more commonly observed in patients who presented lesions on cytology and the absence of infection by this virus was more common in patients with normal and inflammatory cytology. However, the presence of HPV was identified in 13.55% of cases with normal cytology. HPV genotyping is of paramount importance for the fight against cervical neoplasia, since this methodology makes it possible to assess the risk of developing precursor lesions and cervical cancer, anticipating the appearance of cervical lesions in up to ten years, therefore, it is essential to integrate this technique to cytological examinations. In addition, the identification of predominant genotypes in the precursor lesions that precede the oncogenic state allows drawing an epidemiological profile in order to increase the effectiveness of prevention and health promotion actions related to cervical cancer.