Colposcopy and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Cervical cancer is both preventable and curable. It has a long natural history with a prolonged pre-cancerous phase that is easily detectable and treatable. Exfoliative cytology has been the mainstay for screening of cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN). Assessment of women presenting with abnormal cervical cytology and the selection of those requiring treatment relied mainly on colposcopic impressions of the cervical transformation zone and the histological appraisal of directed punch biopsies. The need to maximise clinical resources, achieve quicker and more effective management of patients, limit postoperative complications and preserve reproductive function has led to the popularity of local excisional methods for cervical premalignancy. Although the cure rates for all local ablative and excisional methods are more than 90% after one treatment, the excisional methods provide a more reliable histopathological diagnosis and the patient can be treated at the initial visit. The recognition that persistent infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer has led to the development of new HPV tests/biomarkers and prophylactic vaccines against HPV. The HPV DNA test that targets the viral DNA has been introduced as a test of cure after CIN treatment and as a triage tool in women presenting with borderline or low-grade findings at cytology. HPV DNA test will be introduced in primary screening in the future. The national HPV immunisation programme was initiated in the NHS in September 2008. The vaccines are safe, well tolerated and highly efficacious in HPV naive women.