Improving Risk-Based Management of HPV-Persistent Women at 12 Months Recall in HPV-Based Cervical Cancer Screening: A Multicentric Retrospective Evaluation of Cytology and Partial HPV Genotyping as Triage Strategies

Abstract

Background: Under the current Italian HPV-based cervical screening protocol, women with persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) positivity at the 12-month recall are referred to colposcopy regardless of cytology results. Although this strategy maximizes lesion detection, it may generate substantial over-referral.