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Trends in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia Grade 2+ after human papillomavirus vaccination: The devil is in the details
Author(s) -
Brar Harinder,
Covens Allan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.29264
Subject(s) - medicine , cervical cancer , vaccination , cervical intraepithelial neoplasia , dysplasia , incidence (geometry) , genital warts , cohort , gynecology , cervical screening , intraepithelial neoplasia , cytology , cancer , obstetrics , immunology , pathology , prostate , physics , optics
Eight years since the introduction of the adolescent HPV vaccination programs, as the vaccinated cohort enters adulthood, the impact of these vaccination programs is now being assessed through surrogate markers such as the incidence of high‐grade cervical dysplasia (cytology/histology) and the incidence of genital warts. Early data from the HPV‐IMPACT study shows that although there has been a noticeable drop in CIN2+ incidence rates, the results may be confounded by the recent changes in cervical screening guidelines. This study is significant in that it is the first to report on changes in high‐grade histological abnormalities in the postvaccination era. Despite the confounding effect of changing cervical cancer screening guidelines, the findings cannot be completely ignored. With wider acceptance and standardization of cervical cancer screening guidelines and with an increasing number of women entering the vaccinated cohort, the magnitude of vaccine effectiveness should become more obvious. Further studies are needed to assess the changes in high‐grade histological abnormalities in the post‐vaccine era.