Comparison of the clinical performance of carcinogenic HPV typing of the Linear Array and Papillocheck® HPV-screening assay

BackgroundHPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, and 66 are considered carcinogenic for human beings. DNA-chip technology, Papillocheck® HPV-screening (Greiner) and reverse dot blot, Linear Array (LA) (Roche) are tools to assess the distribution of HPV genotypes.ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to compare the clinical performance of Papillocheck and LA assays using a clinical cut-off of CIN2+. The secondary aim was to comparatively assess the distribution of HPV types using these two assays.Study designThe study population comprised 239 women referred for colposcopy and histology. Papillocheck, LA, and Hybrid Capture II (HCII) tests were done on all samples.ResultsAll tests showed good sensitivity and NPV (greater than 90%). None of the comparisons of sensitivities, specificities, PPVs, and NPVs showed statistically relevant differences between tests. High-risk HPV positivity rate was similar for all tests (Papillocheck 75%, LA 77%, and HCII 73%). Agreement between tests was good. The concordance levels between HCII and Papillocheck and between HCII and LA were 93% (k = 0.82) and 92% (k = 0.80), respectively. Papillocheck and LA tests showed a high overall concordance rate of 96% (k = 0.90). HPV16 was the most detected type (45% with Papillocheck, and 47% with LA), and HPV31 was the second most detected type (13% with Papillocheck, and 14% with LA).ConclusionsThe Papillocheck HPV-screening test and LA test have a good clinical sensitivity to detect HPV types in CIN2+ patients. These assays allow, in the same experiment, to detect and determine the virus type. Our study showed that HPV types 16 and 31/33 are the most prevalent.