Immunocytochemical screening for papillomavirus infection in women: general characteristics and justification of the feasibility

Background. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the leading cause of cervical cancer in women. Early diagnosis of a viral lesion of the multilayer cervical squamous epithelium is extremely important for timely treatment and prevention of cancer. To diagnose papillomavirus infection and cervical lesions according to modern European and American protocols, the determination of HPV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the traditional PAP test are used. An alternative method of diagnosing papillomavirus infection can be immunocytochemical (ICH) screening. Objective of the study: to justify the feasibility of ICH screening as an alternative method for diagnosing viral lesion of the cervical epithelium. Materials and methods. In the study cytological material from 60 patients aged 23–60 years was examined. All cases were divided into two groups: Group 1 – 30 cases from patients with HPV which was detected by PCR, Group 2 – 30 cases from patients without HPV according to PCR. All patients underwent colposcopy with taking of cytological material, ICH examination of cytological material with a BSB-66 clone of anti-HPV antibodies followed by light microscopy of the samples, PCR testing for HPV and, if necessary, pathohistological examination. Results. The statistically significant difference between the results of ICH and PCR testing was detected: 100% of negative PCR results coincided with negative IHC results. Regarding positive cases, a coincidence was recorded in 73.33% of cases. Conclusions. The study has shown that the ICH method of detecting HPV makes it possible to exclude the category of women who not only have persistence of the HPV, but also have its incorporation into the cells of the cervical epithelium, which may be accompanied by certain changes with the risk of developing of intraepithelial neoplasia. A greater coincidence of positive ICH reaction to HPV with abnormal colposcopy data and confirmation of the intraepithelial changes by pathohistological studies indicates the informatively of the method as a predictor of dysplastic cervical changes.