Maaike A. van der Aa

Ovarian cancer remains to have relatively poor prognosis particularly in low-resourced settings. It is therefore important to continually examine the burden of ovarian cancer to identify areas of disparities. Our study aims to provide an overview of the global burden of ovarian cancer using the GLOBOCAN 2020 estimates by country, world region, and Human Development Index (HDI) levels, as well as the predicted future burden by the year 2040 by HDI. Age-standardized incidence and mortality rates for ovarian cancer in 185 countries were calculated by country, world region, and for the four-tier HDI. The number of new cases and deaths were projected for the year 2040 based on demographic projections by HDI category. Approximately 314 000 new ovarian cancer cases and 207 000 deaths occurred in 2020. There were marked geographic variations in incidence rates, with the highest rates observed in European countries with very high HDI and low rates were found in African countries within the lowest HDI group. Comparable mortality rates were observed across the four-tier HDI. Relative to 2020 estimates, our projection for 2040 indicates approximately 96% and 100% increase in new ovarian cancer cases and deaths, respectively, among low HDI countries compared to 19% and 28% in very high HDI countries. Our study highlights the disproportionate current and future burden of ovarian cancer in countries with lower HDI levels, calling for global action to reduce the burden and inequality of ovarian cancer in access to quality cancer care and treatment.

The need for accurate genotyping of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections is becoming increasingly important, since (i) the oncogenic potential among the high-risk HPV genotypes varies in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer, (ii) monitoring multivalent HPV vaccines is essential to investigate the efficiency of the vaccines, and (iii) genotyping is crucial in epidemiologic studies evaluating HPV infections worldwide. Various genotyping assays have been developed to meet this demand. Comparison of different studies that use various HPV genotyping tests is possible only after a performance assessment of the different assays. In the present study, the SPF(10) LiPA version 1 and the recently launched Roche Linear Array HPV genotyping assays are compared. A total of 573 liquid-based cytology samples were tested for the presence of HPV by a DNA enzyme immunoassay; 210 were found to be positive for HPV DNA and were evaluated using both genotyping assays (163 with normal cytology, 22 with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, 20 with mild/moderate dysplasia, and 5 with severe dysplasia). Comparison analysis was limited to the HPV genotype probes common to both assays. Of the 160 samples used for comparison analysis, 129 (80.6%) showed absolute agreement between the assays (concordant), 18 (11.2%) showed correspondence for some but not all genotypes detected on both strips (compatible), and the remaining 13 (8.2%) samples did not show any similarity between the tests (discordant). The overall intertest comparison agreement for all individually detectable genotypes was considered very good (kappa value, 0.79). The genotyping assays were therefore highly comparable and reproducible.