Detection of human papillomavirus (HPV)E62) and 38.7% (95% CI, 35.7, 41.7), respectively (P < 0.05). In 1,373 women undergoing routine screening (CIN 2؉, n ؍ 7), both Aptima and HC2 showed 100% sensitivity, and the specificities were 88.3% (95% CI, 86.6, 90.0) and 85.3% (95% CI, 83.5, 87.3), respectively (P < 0.05); for women >30 years of age (n ؍ 845), the specificities were 93.9% (95% CI, 92.3, 95.5) and 92.1% (95% CI, 90.3, 93.9), respectively (P < 0.05). On the basis of 818 referral cases (CIN 2؉, n ؍ 235), the sensitivity of Aptima was 94.9% (95% CI, 92.1, 97.7) and that of Proofer was 79.1% (95% CI, 73.9, 84.3), and the specificities were 45.8% (95% CI, 41.8, 49.8) and 75.1% (95% CI, 71.6, 78.6), respectively (P < 0.05). Both Aptima and Proofer showed a higher degree of agreement with LA genotyping than HC2. In conclusion, the Aptima test is as sensitive as HC2 but more specific for detecting CIN 2؉ and can serve as a reliable test for both primary cervical cancer screening and the triage of borderline cytological abnormalities.Persistent infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) is the underlying cause of cervical cancer (34, 42), and therefore, testing for oncogenic HPV infection could serve as an accurate means of detecting women at risk for cervical cancer. There are also indications that testing for HPV might be the most effective method of cervical cancer screening in developing countries (32). Moreover, HPV testing would be warranted as a primary screening tool in the era of HPV vaccination (13). Numerous studies have established that testing for HPV DNA is significantly more sensitive than Pap cytology for the detection of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2) or worse (CIN 2ϩ, i.e., CIN 2, CIN 3, squamous cell carcinoma, endocervical adenocarcinoma in situ, and endocervical adenocarcinoma) (1,4,15,20,27,30) and is recommended in primary cervical cancer screening and for the triage of borderline cytological abnormalities (33,43,44). However, HPV testing lacks specificity due to the ubiquitous and transient nature of HPV infection in women, and therefore, the positive predictive value (PPV) tends to be lower than that obtained by cytology (10, 15). The above observation nonetheless has been based on HPV DNA testing, with most studies utilizing the Hybrid Capture 2 DNA test (HC2; Qiagen) (10, 15). While HC2 is highly sensitive for the detection of 13 high-risk oncogenic types targeted by the test (10,11,15), it is also known to cross-react with untargeted nononcogenic types, thus potentially contributing to a reduction in the test's specificity (5,28,31).The oncogenic process in cervical cancer is initiated and mediated by the upregulation of HPV E6/E7 oncoproteins, and thus, overexpression of these oncoproteins is a marker for an increased risk of cervical cancer (26,38,45). Therefore, detection of E6/E7 oncogene expression could be more specific and a better predictor of cervical cancer risk than the detection of HPV DNA, and E6/E7 oncogenic expression can be detecte...