Cervical Smear Screening by Pap Smear and Surveillance of HPV Infection among Patients Attending Gynaecology OPD in a Tertiary Care Center - A 12-Months Study

Background: Cancer of the uterine cervix stands as the 4th most common cancer in terms of incidence and mortality globally. In India, it is the 2nd most common cancer in 2022. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common etiological risk factor for cervical cancer, and HPV-16 and 18 are associated with 70% of all invasive cervical cancers. Methods: A single-centered descriptive study on 111 women was conducted in collaboration with departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pathology and Multi-disciplinary Research Unit (MRU) of a tertiary care center for a period of 12 months, from September 2023 to August 2024. Cervical Pap smear examination by conventional technique and detection of HPV DNA by Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) system were performed. Results: One hundred (90.1%) samples were interpreted as Negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy (NILM), two (1.8%) samples as Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS), one (0.9%) sample as Low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) and samples of eight (7.2%) women as Unsatisfactory. HC2 identified 4 (3.6%) hrHPV positive women, out of which three (2.7%) women belonged to the age group of 36 to 45 years. On comparison to Pap smear study, two (50%) were NILM, one (25%) was ASCUS and one (25%) Unsatisfactory. Conclusion: HPV testing is a well-established screening module for cervical cancer. There is negligible screening of HPV in our state. This study hopes to lay a foundation stone in early screening and prevention of cervical cancer through HPV vaccination in Manipur.