HPV-Based Screen-and-Treat Demonstration Project in Lilongwe

July 18, 2025 updated by: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

A Novel Cervical Cancer Screen-and-Treat Demonstration Project With HPV Self-testing and Thermocoagulation for Women in Lilongwe Malawi

The purpose of this study is to assess completion and performance of the following novel invasive cervical cancer (ICC) screen-and-treat algorithm among 625 HIV-positive women in Lilongwe, Malawi: 1) rapid testing of self-collected vaginal brush for primary high risk (hr)-human papillomavirus (HPV), 2) same-day visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) for women who are hr-HPV positive, and 3) thermocoagulation for VIA positive/ablation-eligible (by cervical colposcopy) women.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This is a single arm, prospective study of 1,250 women (625 HIV-positive and 625 HIV-negative) enrolled from outpatient clinics that provide sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and/or HIV care services in Lilongwe, Malawi. The primary objectives of this study are to assess completion of a novel ICC screen-and-treat strategy among HIV-positive women in Lilongwe, Malawi, using self-collected vaginal brush for hr-HPV testing, followed by same-day NIA and thermocoagulation for HPV-positive/NIA-positive/ablation-eligible (by colposcopy) women, and to determine the 24-week efficacy of thermocoagulation among HIV-positive women with CIN2/3. The secondary objective will be to evaluate the performance of the ICC screen-and-treat strategy by estimating overtreatment for women who are HPV-positive/NIA-positive/ablation-eligible, and undertreatment among HPV-positive/NIA-negative women.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
1250

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Malawi
      • Lilongwe, Malawi
        • University of North Carolina (UNC) Project-Malawi

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

25 years to 50 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Females ≥ 25 years of age at study entry and ≤ 50 years of age (per current Malawi National Cervical Cancer Control Program guidelines for screening).
  2. Ability and willingness of participant to provide written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Current or prior history of cervical, vaginal, or vulvar cancer or dysplasia
  2. Current symptomatic sexually transmitted infection requiring treatment (women will be allowed to be in the study upon successful treatment)
  3. Prior HPV vaccination.
  4. Participants with known allergy to acetic acid.
  5. Participants with a history of total hysterectomy.
  6. Participants who are pregnant or plan on becoming pregnant during the study period.
  7. Participants who are less than 12 weeks postpartum.
  8. Participants with other illnesses that would limit compliance with study requirements or in the opinion of the investigator or designee, have a problem that would make participation in the study unsafe or complicate interpretation of study findings.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: VIA and thermocoagulation
Participants will undergo same day VIA and thermocoagulation
Procedure: VIA and thermocoagulation
Participants will self-collect a vaginal brush for hr-HPV testing. HPV-positive women and every 10th consecutive HPV-negative woman will complete same-day VIA with colposcopically-directed cervical biopsy and ECC (if lesion seen), and thermocoagulation if ablation-eligible by colposcopy. If no lesion is seen on colposcopy, the woman will have a cervical pap smear and ECC collected, and no thermocoagulation will be performed. Finally, women who are suspicious for cancer at VIA will undergo colposcopically-directed cervical biopsies.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Same-day Visual Inspection With Acetic Acid (VIA) Rate
Time Frame: Baseline
The proportion of women who were HPV-positive and underwent same-day VIA following self-collected vaginal sampling was assessed, including both HIV-positive and HIV-negative participants. As per the study protocol, data were not stratified by HIV status for this outcome due to lack of scientific rationale for a difference in same-day VIA completion by HIV status.
Baseline
Same-day Thermocoagulation Rate Among Women Who Were HPV-positive and Ablation-eligible by Colposcopy Triage
Time Frame: Baseline
Among women who tested HPV-positive through primary screening, those eligible for thermocoagulation by colposcopy triage received thermocoagulation treatment on the same day as self-collection. As specified in the study protocol, data were not stratified by HIV status for this outcome due to lack of scientific rationale for a difference in same-day colposcopy completion by HIV status.
Baseline
High Risk (hr)-Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Positive Rate
Time Frame: Baseline
The proportion of women who tested High risk (hr)-human papillomavirus (HPV) positive on a self-collected vaginal brush among enrolled participants.
Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
HPV Screen-triage-treat Algorithm for Cervical Cancer Screening
Time Frame: Up to 24 weeks
To evaluate the performance of the proposed ICC screen-and-treat strategy for cervical carcinoma screening among women who are HIV- positive, the rates of overtreatment and undertreatment rates were estimated. Overtreatment for women who are HPV-positive VIA- positive/ablation-eligible and would have received thermocoagulation but had no cervical precancer (i.e., high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia), and undertreatment among HPV-positive with high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia but were VIA-positive and eligible for thermocoagulation, and those who were VIA-negative.
Up to 24 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Lameck Chinula, MD, University of North Carolina

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 24, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 28, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
February 28, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 13, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 13, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 17, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 6, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 18, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • LCCC 1905
  • R21CA236770 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • AID-OAA-A-11-00012 (Other Grant/Funding Number: USAID/NAS)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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