2.3 | AHPV testing and liquid-based cytology
A cervical sample was collected from each patient and placed into PreservCyt collection medium (Hologic Inc., Marlborough, MA). LBC was categorized according to the 2014 Bethesda classification24 by cytologists in our hospital. Cytologists were blinded to the AHPV and AHPV-GT test results, the subjects’ clinical status, and the colposcopy and histology results. The AHPV and AHPV-GT tests (Gen-Probe Inc., San Diego, CA) were performed using an automated Panther System (Hologic, Inc., San Diego, CA) with residual PreservCyt specimens (1-mL aliquot) following the manufacturer’s instructions. The AHPV test detects the E6/E7 oncogenic mRNA of 14 hrHPV genotypes (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, and 68). The AHPV-GT test, which can detect HPV E6/E7 mRNA in hrHPV genotypes 16 and 18/45, was used for testing AHPV-positive samples.