Safety and Validity Evaluation for Cervical Cancer Screening and Treatment Techniques Among HIV-infected Women

Cervical cancer and HIV are intersecting epidemics that both disproportionately affect low-income women; the impact of the socioeconomic disparity and biologic synergy of these two diseases is seen dramatically in Kenya, where cervical cancer is the most common cancer killer. HIV-infected women are at increased risk for the development of cervical precancer and cancer, develop more aggressive lesions and are affected at younger ages. Although screening for and treatment of precancer has reduced the incidence of cervical cancer to close to zero in resource-rich countries, strategies are costly and not available in most resource-limited countries. Novel testing and treatment methods that can be carried out in low-resource settings are urgently needed to prevent cervical cancer in these settings, especially among HIV-infected women. Using a cross-sectional study design, the investigators tested two potentially low-cost and effective cervical cancer screening methods: visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and protein biomarkers expressed in the presence of cervical dysplasia, neither of which have been well-studied in HIV-infected women. Investigators also randomized a small subset of women to undergo VIA compared to Visual Inspection with Lugol's Iodine (VILI) to compare the test characteristics of these two screening exams. In addition, remarkably little is known about the potential impact of the presence, diagnosis and treatment of human papillomavirus-related dysplasia on HIV genital shedding, a major risk factor for HIV transmission. To explore the impact of the presence, diagnosis and treatment of human papillomavirus-related cervical dysplasia on HIV-1 in genital secretions, investigators compared the levels of HIV-1 RNA found in the cervicovaginal secretions of women with no evidence of cervical dysplasia to levels in women with high-grade cervical dysplasia. They also compared the levels of HIV-1 RNA prior to and after cervical biopsy as well as up to 14 weeks after standard treatment for cervical dysplasia using loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). Results from this study will inform the prioritization and design of safe, effective and low-cost cervical cancer screening and prevention programs for HIV-infected