Type-Specific Human Papillomavirus Testing for the Follow-up of Women with a Typical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance (ASCUS) Pap Smears

Abstract

Background: The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of Human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes amongst women diagnosed with Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance (ASC-US) Pap smears in southern France and to determine whether the systematic application of HPV genotyping in this patient population could improve the ability to identify women with a higher or lower risk of progression to cervical cancer or CIN2 or 3. The ultimate goal is to limit the number of colposcopy performed unnecessarily in women with ASC-US cytology.