Development and distribution of an inter-laboratory comparison test for HPV testing

In order to ensure that cervical cancer screening is carried out optimally and consistently throughout France, the HPV tests used for screening must perform as required and demonstrate excellent inter-laboratory reproducibility. To evaluate this reproducibility, we developed an Inter-Laboratory Comparison (ILC) test and sent it to 25 French laboratories that volunteered to participate in the study. This test comprised a panel of seven samples containing either HPV-, HPV16+ or HPV18+ cells, or HPV33, 39, 52 and 56 plasmids. Twenty-three of the laboratories performed HPV screening tests on this panel using different commercial kits. The HPV16 and 18 genotypes, present in some of the samples in the panel, were systematically detected by all of the participating laboratories. However, the presence of HPV33, 39, 52 and 56 in plasmid form and in smaller quantities was detected more unevenly, depending on the centre and the kits used. These results suggest variations in the detection of non-HPV16/18 genotypes between kits, which are not necessarily detrimental to cervical cancer screening.