Evaluation of the Performance of the Novel PapilloCheck HPV Genotyping Test by Comparison with Two Other Genotyping Systems and the HC2 Test

The novel PapilloCheck genotyping test was compared with SPF10 PCR LiPav1 and PGMY09/11 on hybrid capture 2 (HC2)-pretested samples. From results of 826 cervical samples detection rates and kappa values for the tests were calculated using a HPV type consensus definition. With PapilloCheck HPV types 53, 56, and 33 were found with a sensitivity of 100%. The lowest detection rate was observed for HPV 35 (72.2%). The SPF10 PCR LiPav1 was found to be 100% positive for HPV 18, 31, 53, 56, and 35 and lowest for HPV 59 (81%). The PGMY09/11 system detected only HPV 59 at 100% detection rate and showed lowest sensitivity for HPV 56 (40.5%). Multiple infection rates ranged from 25.8% (PGMY09/11 PCR-LBA), over 39.5% (PapilloCheck) to 55.9% (SPF10 PCR LiPav1). In samples with higher viral DNA load detection rates and concordance between the genotyping tests increases. The kappa values in comparison to the HPV consensus type ranged from k = 0.21 to k = 0.82 for comparing SPF10 PCR with the HPV consensus type, while values for PGMY09/11 PCR ranged from k = 0 to k = 0.96 and were best for the PapilloCheck (k = 0.49-0.98). Detection rates for the identification of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2+) ranged from 93.7% (PGMY09/11 PCR) to 98.4% (PapilloCheck, SPF10 PCR, HC2). In conclusion, this study shows that the PapilloCheck give comparable results to established PCR methods. However, these results also show a necessity for the standardization of genotype-specific HPV detection assays.