2Department of Clinical Pathology and Anatomic Pathology, Hospital Nacional Dos de Mayo and School of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
3Roche Diagnostics, Lima, Perú
4Roche Diagnostics, Pleasanton, California, USA
5Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Hospital Nacional Dos de Mayo and School of Medicine, Universidad Particular San Martin de Porres
Methods: A decision analytic model was used to estimate the clinical and budget impact of each screening approach over a ten year period. A Markov model was used to simulate the natural history (progression and regression) of HPV and project the annual incidence of cervical cancer. The analysis was conducted on a hypothetical cohort of 4,000 women between 30 and 65 years eligible for cervical cancer screening. Epidemiological and clinical data were derived from the published literature and from the Addressing THE Need for Advanced HPV Diagnostics (ATHENA) trial. The analysis included cervical cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment costs from the national Reimbursement Tariff Listing of the Seguro Integral de Salud (SIS), Peru in addition to Peruvian gynecologic oncologists opinion when SIS costs were not available. One-way sensitivity analysis was conducted on all model inputs to evaluate the impact of uncertainty on results.
Results: In the base-case analysis, 58.6%, 83.7% and 90.5% of CIN2 and CIN3 pre-cancer lesions were detected among women by conventional cytology, HPV test with genotyping and co-testing (cytology and HPV test with genotyping) respectively. Relative to conventional cytology, introduction of HPV test with genotyping is estimated to reduce the annual incidence of cervical cancer from 3.3 per 100,000 to 2.7 per 100,000 with an incremental budget impact of 0.62 USD per screened woman per year. A co-testing approach was estimated to reduce the annual incidence to 2.5 per 100,000 with budget impact of 1.37 USD per screened woman per year.
Conclusions: HPV primary screening with genotyping, either implemented alone or as part of a co-testing approach, improves early cervical cancer detection and reduces cervical cancer incidence and associated mortality with minimal budget impact on a per screened woman per year basis. Including HPV primary screening with genotyping for the screening of women aged 30 to 65 years may be a cost-beneficial approach to reduce cervical cancer incidence among women in Peru.
Keywords: Cervical Cancer; Budget Impact; HPV Primary Screening; Peru
Abbreviations: ATHENA: Addressing THE Need for Advanced HPV Diagnostics; SIS: Seguro Integral de Salud; HPV: Human Papillomavirus; CIN: Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia; USD: United States Dollars; ICC: Invasive Cervical Cancer; LSIL: low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion; HSIL: high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion; ASC-US: Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance
Numerous studies have demonstrated that conventional cervical cytology has low sensitivity, ranging from 45% to 70% for the detection of pre-cancerous lesions [2-6]. Specifically in Peru, a published study showed that cervical cytology was only 42% sensitive in detection of invasive cervical carcinoma (ICC) [7]. The evidence suggests that one in three cervical cancer cases occur among women with previously “normal” cytology results [8,9]. Even in developed countries, where conventional cytology has helped to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer, it has been observed that there is a limitation to further reduce this incidence due to low cervical cytology test sensitivity [10,11].
The human papillomavirus (HPV) has been determined to cause up to 90-95% of cervical cancer cases [12]. Women infected with high-risk strains, such as HPV 16 and/or 18 are at increased risk of developing high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), a precursor to ICC [13]. HPV testing has demonstrated higher sensitivity than conventional cytology in the detection of pre-cancerous lesions (CIN2 and CIN3)[14]. For this reason, an increasing number of countries and professional guidelines are recommending primary cervical cancer screening with HPV testing either alone as an alternative to cytology testing, or as part of a complementary testing approach with cytology (“cotesting”)[ 15-19]. Substantial evidence demonstrates that early identification and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions, especially at CIN2 stage, is associated with reduced incidence of cervical cancer and subsequent mortality [20,21].
Recently in Peru, the Ministry of Health approved new guidelines recommending HPV primary testing of women 30 to 49 years old, when available in the health establishment [22]. Although this is a significant advancement, the population coverage is limited (30 to 49 years) and does not include all women at risk. The objective of this study was to compare, from the Peruvian public payer perspective, the clinical and budget impact of implementing HPV testing with genotyping, versus co-testing (cytology and HPV testing with genotyping) and conventional cytology for primary cervical cancer screening of women age 30 to 65 years in Peru in in order to really include in the study all the women that are at risk and not only those between 30 to 49 years old.
1. Conventional cytology every year as the primary screening method. In women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS), cervical cytology is repeated in 6 months. Any result worse than low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) leads to colposcopy. Women with negative results return for routine cervical cancer screening annually (Figure 1A).
2. Co-testing every five years. Women testing positive for HPV types 16 and/or 18 are sent to colposcopy, whereas women positive for HPV but negative for HPV types 16 and 18 repeat co-testing in 12 months. Women with normal cytology and negative HPV test return for screening in five years (Figure 1B).
3. HPV test with genotyping every five years. This approach utilizes HPV test with genotyping as the primary screening modality. Women who are HPV negative return for routine screening in five years. Women who are HPV types 16 and/ or 18 positive are referred for immediate colposcopy. HPV positive women who are HPV types 16 and 18 negative have reflex cytology performed on the residual sample. A cytology result of ASCUS or worse leads to immediate colposcopy, whereas women with normal results from cytology return for follow-up testing in 12 months (Figure 1C).
A Markov model was included as part of the analysis to project the progression and regression of HPV infection to precancerous lesions (CIN2 and CIN3) and cervical cancer. The model comprised of eight mutually exclusive health states: well / HPV negative, HPV positive (non high-risk strains), HPV positive (high-risk strains 16 and 18), CIN1, CIN2, CIN3, ICC, and cervical cancer attributed death. The model implemented one-month transition cycles to project the annual incidence of cervical cancer over a ten year period among the cohort of women within each screening approach. This Markov model was previously described in detail by Wright, et al. 2016, including transition probabilities derived from the published literature [23].
Sensitivity and specificity of cervical cytology (ASCUS) |
||
Parameter |
Base-case Input |
Reference |
Sensitivity for CIN2 |
53.20% |
[24] |
Sensitivity for CIN3 |
57.70% |
[24] |
Sensitivity for ICC |
57.70% |
[Assumed equivalent to CIN3] |
Specificity of cervical cytology (ASCUS) |
73.40% |
[24] |
Sensitivity and specificity of cervical cytology (LSIL) |
||
Sensitivity for CIN2 |
34.10% |
[ATHENA trial; unpublished data on file from general population] |
Sensitivity for CIN3 |
35.40% |
[ATHENA trial; unpublished data on file from general population] |
Sensitivity for ICC |
35.40% |
[Assumed equivalent to CIN3] |
Specificity of cervical cytology (LSIL) |
91.00% |
[ATHENA trial; unpublished data on file from general population] |
Sensitivity and specificity of HPV test with genotyping |
||
Sensitivity for CIN2 |
63.60% |
[24] |
Sensitivity for CIN3 |
72.00% |
[24] |
Sensitivity for ICC |
72.00% |
[Assumed equivalent to CIN3] |
Specificity of HPV test with genotyping |
85.20% |
[24] |
Sensitivity and specificity of colposcopy |
||
Sensitivity for CIN2 |
100% |
[Assumed] |
Sensitivity for CIN3 |
100% |
[Assumed] |
Sensitivity for ICC |
100% |
[Assumed] |
Specificity of colposcopy |
100% |
[Assumed] |
Parameter |
Base-case Input |
Reference |
CIN 1 prevalence |
7.6% (76/1000) |
[25] |
CIN 2 prevalence |
0.2% (2/1000) |
[25] |
CIN 3 prevalence |
0.4% (4/1000) |
[25] |
ICC prevalence |
0.9% (9/1000) |
[25] |
Prevalence of hrHPV |
12.6% (126/1000) |
[25] |
Prevalence of HPV16 and/or 18 |
6.6% (66/1000) |
[26] |
Parameter |
Base-case Input (USD) |
Reference |
Conventional cytology |
3.03 |
Hospital tariff listing (SIS) |
Office visit (routine/repeat screening) |
2.36 |
Hospital tariff listing (SIS) |
Office visit (diagnostic) |
2.36 |
Hospital tariff listing (SIS) |
HPV test with genotyping |
54 |
Hospital tariff listing (SIS) |
Colposcopy and biopsy |
19.97 |
Interviews to gynecologic oncologist of Hospital Nacional Dos de Mayo |
CIN treatment |
244.57 |
Interviews to gynecologic oncologist of Hospital Nacional Dos de Mayo |
The annual cervical cancer incidence per 100,000 women was reduced from 3.3 cases with cytology to 2.7 and 2.5 cases following HPV test with genotyping and co-testing, respectively (Table 5). Consequently, the projected annual cervical cancer mortality rate was reduced from 0.03% with cytology screening to 0.005% following HPV test with genotyping.
Screening Approach |
CIN2 and CIN3 detected (%) |
ICC detected (%) |
Conventional cytology |
58.6 |
45.3 |
HPV test with genotyping |
83.7 |
86.3 |
Co-testing with genotyping |
90.5 |
91.3 |
Screening Approach |
Annual incidence of cervical cancer per 100,000 |
Annual cervical cancer mortality per 100,000 |
Conventional cytology |
3.3 |
31.5 |
HPV test with genotyping |
2.7 |
5.4 |
Co-testing with genotyping |
2.5 |
3.6 |
Screening Approach |
Total annual cost (USD) |
Incremental total annual cost (versus cytology) |
Total annual cost per screened woman |
Incremental total annual cost (versus cytology) per screened woman |
Conventional cytology |
50,253 |
- |
12.56 |
- |
HPV test with genotyping |
52,735 |
2,482 |
13.18 |
0.62 |
Co-testing with genotyping |
55,725 |
5,472 |
13.93 |
1.37 |
The greater sensitivity of HPV test with genotyping in detecting pre-cancerous lesions (CIN2 and CIN3) has been shown to reduce cervical cancer incidence when used as primary screening in several clinical trials [24,29,30,31]. Budget impact analyses conducted in other countries have similarly demonstrated that the use of HPV test with genotyping as primary screening is clinically beneficial and associated with lower costs than cervical cytology alone [23,32]. Additionally, some studies have also demonstrated that using HPV test with genotyping as primary screening in cervical cancer prevention programs is more costannual effective than with cervical cytology alone [33,34]. Based on these evidence and similar, many countries have changed screening practices and adopted guidelines like those from the American Cancer Society, the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology, the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), among others, that recommend using HPV test with genotyping for primary screening of cervical cancer for women between 30 to 65 years of age [15-19]. All these discussed evidences and guidelines consider and demonstrates the clinical benefit and the costeffectiveness of screening women between 30 to 65 years, and not only those between 30 to 49 years old, being this the reason why this study has considered 30 to 65 years as the appropriate range for the study. Furthermore, as far as we are aware, this is the first budget impact analysis conducted from a Peruvian public health perspective to assess the clinical and budget impact of HPV test with genotyping for cervical cancer screening.
There are some limitations worth noting, especially in the availability of data to inform base-case inputs. The test performance data used in the base-case analysis were derived from a U.S. clinical trial (ATHENA). Although we do not believe that test performance should vary between geographies or between cultures, local data are not available to confirm this assumption. We used epidemiology, clinical, and cost inputs from local studies and available data sources. However, recognizing limited data and the variability between healthcare system infrastructures and population demographics across Peru, the base-case inputs are associated with a level of uncertainty. The results of modeling are limited by the accuracy of data inputs. We performed OWSA to evaluate the impact of parameter uncertainty on the results and to understand the most influential parameters in the analysis; however the results may be more relevant to the urban areas of Peru, such as Lima, where specialized healthcare and routine cervical cancer screening may be more accessible.
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