DNA methylation as a triage tool for cervical cancer screening - A meeting report

Introduction: DNA methylation is proposed as a novel biomarker able to monitor molecular events in human papillomavirus (HPV) infection pathophysiology, enabling the distinction between HPV-induced lesions with regression potential from those that may progress to HPV-related cancer.

Methods: This meeting report summarises the presentations and expert discussions during the HPV Prevention and Control Board-focused topic technical meeting on DNA methylation validation in clinician-collected and self-collected samples, novel DNA methylation markers discovery, implementation in cervical cancer screening programs, and their potential in women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Results: Data presented in the meeting showed that HPV-positive, baseline methylation-negative women have a lower cumulative cervical cancer incidence than baseline cytology-negative women, making DNA methylation an attractive triage strategy. However, additional standardised data in different settings (low- versus high-income settings), samples (clinician-collected and self-collected), study designs (prospective, modelling, impact) and populations (immunocompetent women, women living with HIV) are needed.

Conclusion: Establishing international validation guidelines were identified as the way forward towards accurate validation and subsequent implementation in current screening programs.