Limitations of widely used high-risk human papillomavirus laboratory-developed testing in cervical cancer screening

Keith V Nance

Medical Directory of Cytology, Rex Hospital, Raleigh, and Department of Pathology, The University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

I read with interest the recently published article by Naryshkin and Austin entitled "Limitations of widely used high-risk human papillomavirus laboratory-developed testing in cervical cancer screening".¹ The article is a single case report of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix diagnosed in a patient who had negative Hybrid Capture 2 (Qiagen NV, Hilden, Germany) high-risk human papillomavirus testing from SurePath™ (Becton-Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ) samples. The authors then discuss several valid points regarding the use of human papillomavirus testing and cervical cancer screening not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Their conclusion is that such testing should not be done using the SurePath collection medium.

View the original paper by Naryshkin and Austin.