Study suggests that combining Aptima HPV assay plus Aptima HPV 16 18/45 Genotype assay is more effective and will save money- Hologic

Researchers have presented a new clinical-economic modelling analysis showing that screening for cervical cancer using the Aptima HPV assay (an mRNA-based HPV test) and the Aptima HPV 16 18/45 Genotype assay, from Hologic, could cost the health care system less money and prevent more cases of invasive cervical cancer than screening with HPV alone using a DNA-based test. Hologic describes this co-testing as "Pap+HPV Together". The study simulated the lifetime effects of screening women for cervical cancer every three years from ages 30 to 70 using each screening strategy. These results were then projected to the current US population. The model predicted that compared to screening with HPV alone with a DNA-based test, screening with "Pap+HPV Together" using the ThinPrep Pap test and Aptima HPV assays could over the next 40 years prevent nearly 150,000 cases of invasive cervical cancer and save approximately $4 billion in healthcare costs, based on a $39 difference for each 30-year-old woman modelled in the study.

These predictions were based on the estimate that screening with HPV alone could lead to 79 cases of invasive cervical cancer per 10,000 women, compared to 58 cases per 10,000 women when screening with Pap+HPV Together. This represents a potential 37% increase in cervical cancer cases, which contributed to increased treatment costs in the study. The new model complements results published earlier this year from the largest retrospective, real-world Quest study of cervical cancer screening strategies to date, which found that nearly one in five women with cervical cancer (18.6%) could be missed by screening with HPV alone. Data were presented at the International Society For Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.

Comment: Hologic acquired the APTIMA HPV 16 18/45 Genotype Assay as part of its acquisition of Gen-Probe Incorporated, which was completed in August 2012. The APTIMA HPV Assay received FDA approval in 2011 and was CE marked in 2008.