HIFU vs Observation for LSIL of Cervix: A Randomized Controlled Trial (HIFU Colpo)

March 4, 2026 updated by: Dr. Vincent YT Cheung, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong

High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Versus Observation for Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions of Cervix: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The majority of low-grade pre-invasive lesions of cervix (low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, LSIL).will regress spontaneously over 2 years and immediate treatment may not be necessary. According to the Hong Kong College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (HKCOG), if a low-grade lesion is confirmed by colposcopy and biopsy, the patient can be observed and followed up with HPV testing or co-testing at 12 months, irrespective of age. This randomized controlled study is to determine whether high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment of low-grade pre-invasive lesions of cervix, can cause regression of these lesions in more patients within a specific time when compared to observation as a standard management according to HKCOG Guidelines. All eligible patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio into 2 groups: high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) or Observation group. Background information of the patients such as age, parity, body mass index, smoking status and the presence of chronic medical disease will be collected. All patients with cervical HR-HPV status will be tested. Patients randomized into HIFU group will receive HIFU treatment within 2 weeks after randomization. Those randomized into Observation group will have no intervention. All patients will attend follow-up at 6 and 12 months after randomization, during which cervical smear for cytology (with cytopathologists blinded to the treatment group) and HR-HPV testing will be performed. The rate of cytological LSIL regression and HR-HPV clearance rates at 6 and 12 months in both groups will be analyzed. Patients will be referred back to colposcopy clinic for repeat colposcopy if needed according to HKCOG Guidelines. At the 12-month follow-up visit, if referral to repeat colposcopy is not needed, patients will be referred back to their primary care physicians, Department of Health Family Health Service, Family Planning Association or other primary care centres for follow-up cervical smears.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

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.

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 (Estimated)

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.
180

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 Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Vincent YT Dr. Cheung, MBBS, MRCOG, FHKAM, FRCOG
  • Phone Number: +85222554265
  • Email: vytc@hku.hk

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Pre-menopausal women aged 18 years old or above.
  2. Women had satisfactory colposcopy for abnormal cervical smear with positive HR-HPV test, with histologically confirmed diagnosis of cervix LSIL or CIN1.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Women who are pregnant or breast feeding at the time of planned HIFU treatment.
  2. Women without HR-HPV, or previously treated for CIN or cervical cancer.
  3. Women not able to attend follow up.
  4. Women with evidence of acute genital tract infection.
  5. Women with significant autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency diseases, severe cardiac, hepatic, renal, and coagulation dysfunctions.
  6. Women not able to give consent.

Participants be considered withdrawn from study or excluded from analysis

  1. Formally recruited into the study but withdraw from the study after randomization.
  2. Do not attend both follow-up appointments.

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel 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.
Active Comparator: HIFU treatment group
high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for the management of cervical HR-HPV-related LSIL
Device: HIFU treatment
HIFU for the management of cervical HR-HPV-related LSIL
No Intervention: observation group
Observation group as a standard management according to HKCOG Guidelines

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
Efficacy of HIFU in reducing cervical HR-HPV related LSIL
Time Frame: 12 months
- To determine the efficacy of HIFU in reducing cervical HR-HPV-related LSIL as evident by the reduction in the number of persistent cervical smear cytological abnormality when compared to observation as a standard management according to HKCOG Guidelines.
12 months

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
efficacy of HIFU in clearing cervical HR-HPV
Time Frame: 12 months
The efficacy of HIFU in clearing cervical HR-HPV-related HPV will be compared to observation. Both HIFU and Observation group will have HPV testing at 6 and 12 months after recruitment, and the incidence of HR-HPV in both groups will be analyzed.
12 months
Efficacy of HIFU in reducing the need for repeat colposcopy
Time Frame: 12 months
The number of participants that required repeat colposcopy for persistent abnormal cervical smear in HIFU and Observation group will be compared.
12 months
Safety and side effects of HIFU in the treatment of cervical LSIL
Time Frame: 6 months
The treatment time, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative pain level using visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, and other discomfort are recorded. Patients will be called in 1 week for any postoperative side effects or complications such as discharge, bleeding, pain (including the VAS pain score) or discomfort, for which, additional telephone or clinic follow-up will be arranged if necessary. The visual analog scale pain score will range from a minimum value of 0 to a maximum value of 10, with higher scores mean worse pain level.
6 months
Patient satisfaction in using HIFU in the treatment of cervical LSIL
Time Frame: 1 months
The level of patient satisfaction in using HIFU in the treatment of cervical LSIL level will be evaluated using visual analog scale (VAS) score, immediately after, and 1 month after HIFU treatment. The visual analog scale patient satisfaction score will range from a minimum value of 0 to a maximum value of 5, with higher scores mean higher satisfaction.
1 months

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.
Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong

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 (Estimated)

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.
May 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
January 31, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 30, 2028

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).
January 15, 2026

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.
March 4, 2026

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.
March 10, 2026

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.
March 10, 2026

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.
March 4, 2026

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.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • UW25-292

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

not yet decided

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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