Early stage cervical cancer is managed surgically while chemoradiation is the mainstay for treatment of bulky or advanced stage disease. The primary aim of post-treatment surveillance is to detect early recurrences and guide additional therapy. There is no definitive agreement on the best practice for cervical cancer surveillance. Most recurrences are detected based on patient history and physical exam as there is limited data to support cervicovaginal cytology and routine use of imaging in follow up. Novel non-invasive biomarkers are needed to monitor disease status, detect early recurrence and guide personalized treatment decisions. Biospecimens including urine and blood plasma will be collected from patients presenting to the UNC Department of Gynecology Oncology and Multidisciplinary clinics with newly diagnosed cervical cancer to assess for HPVDNA. Archived or residual tissue will also be accessed. For patients who undergo definitive management with surgery or chemoradiation, a post-treatment blood plasma and urine sample will be collected 2-6 weeks after completion and will be compared to pre-therapy ctHPVDNA and TrHPVDNA levels.
The purpose of this study is to determine if ctHPVDNA (circulating tumor HPV DNA) can be used as a non-invasive biomarker for identification and treatment monitoring of cervical cancer by characterizing correlation between plasma ctHPVDNA, urine transrenal HPVDNA (TrHPVDNA) levels and presence of cervical cancer at diagnosis and following definitive intent management.