NCI Spotlight — A paper published by a multi-center research group led by Einstein investigators was recently selected as a “Research Highlight” by the National Cancer Institute / Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program. The paper, which focused on the five-year risk of cervical precancer and cancer among HIV-infected women with normal Pap test results and no evidence of tumor-causing HPV infection, showed that these risks was similarly low as found in a comparison group of HIV-uninfected women who also had normal Pap and HPV-negative test results. The findings raise the possibility of using HPV co-testing to reduce the burden of cervical cancer screening in HIV-infected women, equivalent to such testing in the general population. The lead author was Dr. Marla Keller, professor of medicine and of obstetrics & gynecology and women’s health, while Dr. Howard Strickler, professor of epidemiology & population health, was senior author. Other Einstein faculty who were major co-investigators include: Drs. Robert Burk, Xianhong Xie, Kathryn Anastos, and Xiaonan Xue. To extend this research, Dr. Strickler and colleagues have initiated a new four-year NCI supported project, “Molecular Methods to Improve Cervical Cancer Screening in HIV+ Women.”
Posted on: Wednesday, August 14, 2013