The clinical application of HPV E6/E7 mRNA testing in triaging women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance or low-grade squamous intra-epithelial lesion Pap smear: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim is to evaluate the clinical application value and correlation with cervical lesions' progression of human papillomavirus (HPV) E6/E7 mRNA test in women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS/borderline) or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs/mild dyskaryosis) cytological abnormalities.

METHODS: A meta-analysis was conduct by searching China National Knowledge Infrastructure (1979-2016), Wanfang Date (1998-2016), VIP (1989-2016), PubMed (1950-2016), Web of Science (1950-2016) and Elsevier Science Direct (1998-2016), for studies on effect of HPV E6/E7 mRNA detection in women with ASCUS/LSIL/dyskaryosis. Study selection and appraisal were conducted independently by three authors, according to inclusive and exclusive criteria. Then, a meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan4.2 software. The subgroups analysis was conducted according to women's initial HPV DNA test results.

RESULTS: Six articles with a total of 1024 subjects were included in the study. It was concluded that a positive HPV E6/E7 mRNA tested result have a higher risk of progressing to CIN2+ in future 2 years than a negative result. The pooled relative risk (RR) is 3.08, (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.57-6.07, P < 0.05). The same situation was also observed in the subgroup of HPV DNA tested positive group and HPV DNA tested unlimited group. The pooled RR value of the two subgroups was, respectively, 1.98, (95% CI = 1.19-1.19, P < 0.05) and 7.58, (95% CI = 3.64-3.64, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: A positive HPV E6/E7 mRNA testing result suggested the women with ASCUS, or LSIL Pap smear was in a truly dangerous position, which is an adverse prognostic factor. It suggested that cervical lesions stay in a progressing status and these women should be referred for colposcopy and strengthen follow-up promptly. Whereas, women with a negative HPV E6/E7 mRNA testing result can increase follow-up interval, by comprehensively considering their situation, thus, avoiding unnecessary colposcopy and reducing the rate of colposcopy and biopsy.