Cervical Thermal Ablation to Treat Persistent HPV Infection

Thermal ablation of women ≥40 years of age with persistent Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. A pilot and intervention study. Cervical heat treatment is a relatively new form of treatment19 where a smaller, defined area of the cervix is destroyed by insertion of a heated probe. Cervical heat treatment is already used in specialist medical practice for patients with erythroplakia, contact bleeding, chronic cervicitis and discharged. In a collaboration between Region Zealand and the Capital Region of Denmark, 120 women are randomized to receive thermal ablation for HPV infections without severe disease with a matched control group of 120 women who do not receive ablation. All women are monitored through repeated cervical cytology re-tests at defined follow-up (FU) times. The study cohort consist of 1) sample on enrollment date, 2) 3 months FU sample, 3) 6 months FU sample, 4) 12 months FU sample. All samples are collected in SurePath liquid-based cytology medium and HPV tested using the BD Onclarity HPV test (BD Integrated Diagnostic systems, Sparks, MD)20-22 supplemented by a full genotyping analysis (Seegene, Seoul, Korea)21,23. Methylation status is examined using the QiaSure FAM19A4/miRNA 122-4 methylation test (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). This project element aims to determine whether thermal ablation impact viral clearance compared to the control group, and whether DNA methylation status is significant amongst women who are persistently HPV positive before and after thermal ablation.

NCT Number	NCT07376031
Lead Sponsor	Hvidovre University Hospital
Conditions	Cervical Cancer Screening, HPV, Thermal Ablation
Enrollment	131 participants
Start Date	2020-01-01
Primary Completion	2025-12-31 (estimated)
Study Completion	2025-12-31 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-02-06