HPV-SCOPE aims to improve knowledge of why HPV infection, and in some cases, abnormal cervical cell growth, can reoccur following treatment via Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP).

The project will examine the interactions between a range of biological factors, including individual immune response, vaginal microbiome composition, human and viral metabolome, and virus genomics. The team will also examine the impact of lifestyle, socioeconomic, and medical histories of participants, and how these variables might interact with the previously mentioned biological factors, and disease outcomes. Interactions between all these factors are highly complex, and the team’s hypothesis is that the combination of a person’s individual immune system and social determinants of health, the dynamics of the cervicovaginal microbiome, and HPV-related factors have a stronger association with post-LEEP treatment HPV and recurrence of abnormal cell growth in the cervix than any of these factors individually.

There is currently a knowledge gap in terms of understanding how these factors evolve and interact in the female genital track following LEEP, and more importantly, how changes in these factors impact post-LEEP clinical outcomes.

For this study, participants will be a cohort of HPV-positive individuals requiring LEEP and an age-matched cohort of HPV-positive individuals who did not require LEEP. Participants will collect vaginal and urine samples during follow-up visits after LEEP or colposcopy. The knowledge gained through this study will have wide implications for preventing, reducing risk of, and managing HPV-related cancers.

The team working on HPV-SCOPE is composed of clinical and biomedical researchers from the fields of epidemiology, public heath, microbiology, and gynecologic oncology. The diverse team brings together a wealth of expertise in complementary fields, allowing for effective investigation into HPV carcinogenesis.