Carbonic anhydrase IX and human papillomavirus as diagnostic biomarkers of cervical dysplasia/neoplasia in women with a cytologic diagnosis of atypical glandular cells: A Gynecologic Oncology Group study in United States

High-risk human papillomavirus (H-HPV) infection is strongly linked to cervical neoplasia, but its role in detecting glandular lesions (GLs) is unclear. In the cervix, carbonic anhydrase IX (CA-IX) is expressed in cervical neoplasia, but rarely in the benign cervix. The diagnostic utility of these biomarkers was evaluated in women with a cytologic diagnosis of atypical glandular cells (AGC). H-HPV was detected using hybrid capture 2 (HC2) in liquid-based cytology, and CA-IX immunoreactivity was studied on conventional Pap smears. Of 403 patients, 111 (28%) were positive for significant cervical lesions (SCLs) including CIN2, CIN3, adenocarcinoma in situ or invasive carcinoma. CA-IX testing alone (n = 403) had a sensitivity of 75, 95 or 65% for SCLs, significant GLs or squamous lesions (SLs), respectively, with a specificity of 88% and a false negative rate (FNR defined as 1 minus negative predictive value) of 10%. Testing for H-HPV (n = 122) had a sensitivity of 97, 100 or 96% for SCLs, GLs or SLs, respectively, with a specificity of 87% and a FNR of 1%. The combination of CA-IX and H-HPV testing (n = 122), collectively, had the same sensitivity, specificity and FNR for SCLs, GLs or SLs as H-HPV testing alone. The conclusions of our study are that both H-HPV and CA-IX testing are useful diagnostic markers for GLs. However, H-HPV testing is a better diagnostic marker for SLs. The combination of CA-IX with H-HPV testing does not improve the diagnostic accuracy for cervical neoplasia in women with AGC diagnosis over that of H-HPV testing alone.