A Randomized Trial of Spectroscopy Versus Standard Care in Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia

A colposcopy is an exam of the cervix, using a magnifying lens. Fluorescence spectroscopy uses a special light source to look for abnormal cells during the colposcopy.

If you agree to take part in this study, depending on your referral Pap smear diagnosis, you will be randomly assigned (as in the toss of a coin) to one of 3 groups. Participants in Group 1 will undergo a standard colposcopy. Participants in Group 2 will undergo a colposcopy plus fluorescence spectroscopy. If your referral Pap smear diagnosis is high-grade dysplasia (abnormal tissue), you may be assigned to Group 3. Participants in Group 3 will have a colposcopy exam and a loop electrical excision procedure (LEEP--a procedure where a small heated wire loop is used to remove a cone-shaped piece of abnormal tissue) on the same day.

At Visit 1, your complete medical history will be recorded. You will have a physical exam. You will have a colposcopy. You will have a pap smear, and cultures will be taken for gonorrhea and chlamydia. The bodily fluid samples for the cultures are collected by using a cotton swab or cytobrush (the same kind of brush used to collect cells for a Pap smear) to collect mucous from the canal of the cervix. Blood (about 6 teaspoons) may be drawn for syphilis, hepatitis, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) tests. You may have a Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) test. The HPV test is performed in the same manner as the bodily fluid sample collection. Depending on which arm you are assigned to, you may have an endocervical curette (ECC) and cervical biopsies of abnormal areas. Before you begin the study, you should ask your study doctor whether or not you were assigned to the group that will be receiving the ECC and cervical biopsies. During the ECC, cells/tissue will be scraped from the cervical canal with an instrument which is made to only take cells/tissue from the surface of the cervical canal. A cervical biopsy is when a tiny piece of tissue from the outside surface of the cervix is removed. Women who are able to have children must have a negative urine pregnancy test. You will complete a behavioral risk-factor interview and questionnaire. The questionnaire should take about 10 minutes to complete.

If you are in Group 2, at each visit you will have a picture of the cervix before and after the application of acetic acid. You will also have a clean probe, the size of a pencil, placed against your cervix. The probe sends out light and reads how much light is absorbed by the tissue. The reading will show doctors and nurses the types of molecules present in the cells of the cervix. Two (2) to 3 measurements will be made. Each measurement takes about a minute.

All participants will have routine visits every 6 months for 2 years. If you miss your scheduled appointment, the next available appointment will be scheduled for you. At these visits, study data will be collected. You will have a colposcopy and Pap smear. You will have cervical biopsies taken and an ECC (if a high-grade lesion is seen). You will have another HPV test.