Self-sampling was found to be acceptable, therefore screening programs could consider offering this option either in the clinic or at home. Self-sampling at home may increase coverage in low-resource countries and reduce the burden that screening places upon clinical infrastructure.
Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women in El Salvador. Utilizing data from the Cervical Cancer Prevention in El Salvador (CAPE) demonstration project, we assessed the health and economic impact of HPV-based screening and two different algorithms for the management of women who test HPV-positive, relative to existing Papbased screening. We calibrated a mathematical model of cervical cancer to epidemiologic data from El Salvador and compared three screening algorithms for women aged 30-65 years: (i) HPV screening every 5 years followed by referral to colposcopy for HPV-positive women (Colposcopy Management [CM]); (ii) HPV screening every 5 years followed by treatment with cryotherapy for eligible HPV-positive women (Screen and Treat [ST]); and (iii) Pap screening every 2 years followed by referral to colposcopy for Pap-positive women (Pap). Potential harms and complications associated with overtreatment were not assessed. Under base case assumptions of 65% screening coverage, HPV-based screening was more effective than Pap, reducing cancer risk by~60% (Pap: 50%). ST was the least costly strategy, and cost $2,040 per year of life saved. ST remained the most attractive strategy as visit compliance, costs, coverage, and test performance were varied. We conclude that a screen-and-treat algorithm within an HPV-based screening program is very costeffective in El Salvador, with a cost-effectiveness ratio below per capita GDP.
Cervical cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide, with 90% of cases occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). There has been a global effort to increase access to affordable screening in these settings; however, a corresponding increase in availability of effective and inexpensive treatment modalities for ablating or excising precancerous lesions is also needed to decrease mortality. This article reviews the current landscape of available and developing technologies for treatment of cervical precancer in LMICs. At present, the standard treatment of most precancerous lesions in LMICs is gas-based cryotherapy. This low-cost, effective technology is an expedient treatment in many areas; however, obtaining and transporting gas is often difficult, and unwieldy gas tanks are not conducive to mobile health campaigns. There are several promising ablative technologies in development that are gasless or require less gas than conventional cryotherapy. Although further evaluation of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness is needed, several of these technologies are safe and can now be implemented in LMICs. Nonsurgical therapies, such as therapeutic vaccines, antivirals, and topical applications, are also promising, but most remain in early-stage trials. The establishment of evidence-based standardized protocols for available treatments and the development and introduction of novel technologies are necessary steps in overcoming barriers to treatment in LMICs and decreasing the global burden of cervical cancer. Guidance from WHO on emerging treatment technologies is also needed.
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