HPV and cervical cancer remain incredibly important topics for detailed study by all post graduates.  Again, these papers are available as free text via the PUBMED links provided.

• Field Evaluation of Xpert HPV Point-of-Care Test for Detection of Human Papillomavirus Infection by Use of Self-Collected Vaginal and Clinician-Collected Cervical Specimens. J Clin Microbiol. 2016 Jul;54(7):1734-7.  Toliman P et al.

An important paper to review: “Self-collected vaginal specimens had excellent agreement with clinician-collected cervical specimens for the detection of hrHPV infection using the Xpert HPV test. ”   

[In other unpublished research from PNGIMR and Burnet Institute, abnormal acetic acid colposcopy-directed POC Xpert HPV testing was effective at enabling a same day cryotherapy approach to deal with HPV positive cervicopathology. 

• Human papillomavirus vaccination: the population impact. Lee LY, Garland SM. F1000Res. 2017 Jun 12;6:866.An essential read – free full text and reasonably short. Provides an overview of all the HPV immunisation and its impact as a prophylactic measure, contrasting available data from around the world.

• Cervical Cancer Prevention Through HPV Vaccination in Low- and Middle-Income Countries in Asia Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2017 Sep 27;18(9):2339-2343.

“This mini-review focuses on the need for HPV vaccine implementation in Asia given the substantial disease burden and underuse of HPV vaccines in LMICs in this region. In addition, the progress towards HPV vaccine introduction, and barriers preventing further rollout of these essential, life-saving vaccines are also discussed in this article.”

• Ambiguous bodies, uncertain diseases: knowledge of cervical cancer in Papua New Guinea. Ethn Health. 2017 Feb 3:1-23. Kelly-Hanku A et al.

• Revised Australian Cervical Screening Program: 

The two yearly Pap test for women aged 18 to 69 will change to a five yearly human papillomavirus (HPV) test for women aged 25 to 74. Women will be due for the first Cervical Screening Test two years after their last Pap test. The changes include:

• women will be invited when they are due to participate via the National Cancer Screening Register
• the Pap smear will be replaced with the more accurate Cervical Screening Test
• the time between tests will change from two to five years
• the age at which screening starts will increase from 18 years to 25 years
• women aged 70 to 74 years will be invited to have an exit test.

Genome organization of human papillomavirus type 16, one of the subtypes known to cause cervical cancer (E1-E7 early genes, L1-L2 late genes: capsid)