Long-term effectiveness and HPV clearance of low and high-grade cervical lesions treated with photodynamic therapy

Abstract

Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women worldwide. For Brazil, there are estimated 16,370 new cases of cervical cancer for each year of the biennium of 2018-2019, with an estimated risk of 15.43 cases per 100,000 women, occupying the third position [1]. Persistent infection with Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been identified as the major cause of the Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN), a precursor of cervical cancer. The classification of CIN is based on the cellular features to discriminate dysplasia levels, being CIN 1 as mild dysplasia and CIN 2/3 as moderate or severe dysplasia [2]. Cervical cancer can be prevented with a early CIN diagnosis and treatment [3].