CORRESPONDENCE

Re: Emerging Technologies and Cervical Cancer

J. Thomas Cox, Laura Koutsky, Mark Schiffman, Diane Solomon

Affiliations of authors: J. T. Cox, Colposcopy Quality Control Group, University of California at Santa Barbara; L. Koutsky, HPV Research Group, University of Washington, Seattle; M. Schiffman (Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics), D. Solomon (Division of Cancer Prevention), National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD.

Correspondence to: Diane Solomon, M.D., National Institutes of Health, Executive Plaza North, Rm. 233, Bethesda, MD 20892.

We are concerned about possible overinterpretation of the editorial by Follen and Richards-Kortum (1) and our article, "Human Papillomavirus Testing for Triage of Women With Cytologic Evidence of Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions: Baseline Data From a Randomized Trial" (2). Our results indicated a lack of utility for human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing among a population of relatively young women referred for well-defined cytologic diagnoses of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs). The cases of LSIL were overwhelmingly HPV DNA positive, confirming their etiologic association with HPV but limiting the role of viral testing for this cytologic diagnosis. As pointed out in our article and reiterated in the accompanying editorial, these results apply only to LSIL and not to the more common equivocal diagnosis of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS). We are actively studying the role of HPV DNA testing in the triage ASCUS. These data will be presented over the next few months in a series of publications.

NOTES

Editor's note: J. Thomas Cox has served as a consultant for the following companies: Cytyc Corporation (Boxborough, MA); 3M Pharmaceuticals (St. Paul, MN); and Digene Corporation (Gaithersburg, MD). L. Koutsky is collaborating with 3M Pharmaceuticals and Merck (West Point, MA). The following companies have provided support for ALTS in the form of equipment or supplies at no cost or reduced cost: Cytyc Corporation; DenVu, Tucson, AZ; National Testing Laboratories, Fenton, MO; Digene Corporation; and TriPath Imaging Inc, Elon, NC.

REFERENCES

1 Follen M, Richards-Kortum R. Emerging technologies and cervical cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2000;92:363–5.[Free Full Text]

2 The Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance/Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions Triage Study (ALTS) Group. Human papillomavirus testing for triage of women with cytologic evidence of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions: baseline data from a randomized trial. J Natl Cancer Inst 2000;92:397–402.[Abstract/Free Full Text]



             
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