2-stage Cervical Cancer Screening in Botswana

Cervical cancer screening programs vary across settings and there is no clear guidance for effective screening programs for HIV-positive women. Evaluating the performance of algorithms that include human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing as first stage screening in high HIV prevalence settings like Botswana is essential for establishing an evidence-based strategy for cervical cancer screening in HIV-positive women.

This study seeks to evaluate the performance of two-stage cervical cancer screening algorithms using primary HPV testing in women living with HIV in Botswana. Second stage screening modalities include Papanicolaou (Pap) smear, visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and colposcopy.

The study will enroll 300 HIV positive women. For all 300 participants, gynecologic speculum exam will be performed and provider-collected cervical swabs will be collected for HPV testing and Pap smear preparation. HPV testing will be performed with either the commercially-available Cepheid Xpert® HPV Assay or a high throughput PCR platform. Pap smear will be prepared using standard technique at the site of collection.

Participants who test HPV-negative will have their Pap smear sent to the National Health Lab (NHL) for staining and pathologist evaluation. If the Pap smear is abnormal, they will be referred to colposcopy per current Botswana Cervical Cancer Prevention Guidelines.

Participants who test HPV-positive will also have their Pap smear reviewed, and will also be asked to return for colposcopy and will undergo further diagnosis and treatment for cervical cancer per national guidelines. At the colposcopy visit, a trained nurse will conduct VIA using the Botswana standard protocol. After application of acetic acid to the cervix, the nurse will record visual results as positive or negative. If VIA is positive based on assessment of the lesion(s), the nurse will record a recommendation for either cryotherapy or loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). Since all of these HPV-positive participants will undergo colposcopy, the participants will not be informed of the VIA results, as neither cryotherapy nor LEEP will be administered based on the VIA results. Rather, the participants will proceed to colposcopy and results of colposcopy will determine further diagnosis and treatment. This design enables us to assess the utility of the two-stage algorithms while providing the highest-quality follow-up to cervical cancer screening abnormalities in Botswana.

These same participants will be invited back at one-year for repeat cervical cancer screening using the same screening methods as at baseline. The data will inform guidelines on the frequency of hrHPV testing in women living with HIV.