Current approaches in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of HPV-associated cervical diseases: practical recommendations. A review

Papillomavirus infection is one of the most important infectious diseases of the reproductive system. The genome of human papillomavirus (HPV) transforms the cervical epithelial cells, leading to progressive changes: from cervical epithelial neoplasia to carcinoma in situ and further to invasive cancer. More than 550 000 cases of cervical cancer (CC) are reported yearly. In Russia, the incidence of CC in 2020 decreased for the first time in 20 years, and the average annual rate of increase in incidence was 1.27%. It became possible thanks to the introduction of a new system of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cervical cancer, in particular, the introduction of screening and a program of modern methods of diagnosis and treatment. Uniform for all countries, screening cervical diseases aims to diagnose changes in the cervical epithelium that occur due to HPV, which may be silent. Until now, the basis of screening programs was a cytological study (pap-test). Since 2018, most EU countries have switched to primary screening for HPV (HPV test) due to its greater sensitivity compared to the cytological method. No etiopathogenetic methods of HPV therapy have been developed yet. However, numerous studies have described the effective treatment of HPV-associated cervical lesions. It was shown that the most effective is a comprehensive approach involving treatment aimed at abnormal tissues and nonspecific antiviral and immunomodulatory therapy. The basis of the CC prevention strategy, of course, is primary prevention through vaccination. Studies are ongoing on the effectiveness of the new generation of vaccines based on the L2 viral protein and therapeutic vaccines against HPV.