Evaluation of 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy in postmenopausal women with persistent HPV infection with or without cervical and vaginal low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (CIN1/VaIN1)

To analyze the efficacy and safety of photodynamic therapy (PDT) on postmenopausal women with persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection with or without low-grade cervical and vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN1 and VaIN1).The clinicopathological and follow-up data of 86 postmenopausal women with HPV infection (35 cases with chronic cervicitis and 51 cases with CIN1/VaIN1) were collected. All the women in this group met these criteria: menopausal time ≥ 1 year, HPV infection time ≥ 2 years, colposcopy and pathological diagnosis of biopsy ≤ CIN1/VaIN1 before PDT treatment, and 5-aminolaevulinic acid (5-ALA) as photosensitizer treating for 6 times with a week interval. The above patients were followed up 6 months and 12 months after PDT treatment, and the follow-up contents included HPV typing, cytology, colposcopy and pathological examinations. HPV negative conversion rate and lesion remission rate are the evaluation indicators of treatment efficacy. In addition, we also assessed the safety of PDT treatment.At 12-month follow-up, the overall HPV clearance rate was 60% (45/75), of which the negative conversion rate of 16/18 HPV was 41.38% (12/29), and non-16/18 HPV was 71.74% (33/46) (p = 0.009). In patients without lesions, the HPV clearance rate was 51.72% (15/29), while in patients with CIN1/VaIN1 (n = 46), the HPV complete remission rate and lesion regression rate were 65.22% (30/46) and 89.13% (41/46), respectively. In addition, the clearance rate of HPV in lesion regression group was significantly higher than that in lesion persistence/progression group (0.00% vs. 73.17%, p = 0.003). The adverse reactions after PDT treatment were mild, mainly manifested as increased vaginal secretions or burning/tingling.Photodynamic therapy can significantly enhance the elimination rate of persistent HPV infection in postmenopausal women and reduce the progression of CIN1/VaIN1. It could be an effective conservative treatment for persistent HPV infection and CIN1/VaIN1 in postmenopausal women.