Cervical cancer screening by cytology and human papillomavirus testing during pregnancy in French women with poor adhesion to regular cervical screening.

In France, cervical screening is opportunistic and approximately 40% of women do not attend regular screening programs. The aim of this study was (1) to assess the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) cervical infection and of cytological abnormalities in a population of young pregnant women with poor adherence to cervical cancer screening and (2) to evaluate the adherence to a screening strategy combining HPV testing and cytology during pregnancy. For this purpose, pregnant women benefited from a cervical smear associated with HPV DNA detection. High-risk HPV types were detected and identified using the HC2 assay and the INNO-LiPA HPV genotyping Extra assay. Two hundred forty-seven women (mean age 26.6 ± 5.1 years) were enrolled. Among them, 76.8% did not attend regular cervical cancer screening programs. High-risk HPV types were detected in 50 (20.2%) samples, HPV 16 being the most frequent (N = 12; 14.5%), with multiple HPV infection in 17 samples (27%). Nine (3.6%) abnormal cervical smears were diagnosed. Follow-up of women with abnormal cytology and/or infection with high-risk HPV was obtained in 29 cases (55.8%), showing 12 persistent high-risk HPV infections. Nine women had colposcopy with a final diagnosis of four normal cervixes, three cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 1 and two cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2. Overall, women adherence to the free post-partum follow-up visit was 53.5%. This study suggests that a screening program combining HPV testing with cervical cytology during pregnancy may be one option to target young women with poor adhesion to regular cervical cancer screening.