Performance of PCDHGB7 Methylation as a Triage Tool for Cervical Cancer Screening in Non- hrHPV16/18-Positive Women

Objective The implementation of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV)-based screening has greatly reduced the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer. However, an effective, noninvasive triage strategy that is independent of subjective pathological interpretation is urgently required to decrease unnecessary colposcopy referrals in non hrHPV16/18-positive women. Materials and methods A total of 1038 non HPV16/18-positive women aged 30–80 years (median = 40 years) were enrolled from Ningxia People’s Hospital. The performance of PCDHGB7 methylation level detection as a triage tool for identifying cervical cancer and high-grade precancerous lesions was evaluated. Results PCDHGB7 hypermethylation efficiently distinguished cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) from CIN1 or normal histology (CIN1-), demonstrating high sensitivity (69.2%) and excellent specificity (96.9%). Notably, PCDHGB7 hypermethylation show strong triage performance in non-HPV16/18-positive women with abnormal cytology, including ASC-US (sensitivity 45.8%, specificity 97.7%) and LSIL (sensitivity 65.0%, specificity 95.1%). Furthermore, favourable performance was observed in women ASC-H (sensitivity 65.0%, specificity 95.1%) and HSIL (sensitivity 81.3%, specificity 95.2%). Conclusions PCDHGB7 hypermethylation detection represents a promising triage strategy for non-hrHPV16/18-positive women, offering high specificity and reliable sensitivity for CIN2 + detection. Its application may substantially reduce unnecessary colposcopy-referrals and improve the efficiency of cervical cancer screening programs.