Interobserver reproducibility of cervical histology interpretation with and without p16 immunohistochemistry.

Adjunctive p16 immunostaining provides useful information in the evaluation of cervical biopsies for precancer. In our study, we have demonstrated that it is highly reproducible between 2 pathologists, although the decision of which biopsies warrant its use is less so. Furthermore, although p16 IHC showed a limited increase in diagnostic reproducibility for all biopsies included in our study, it did demonstrate a more sizable gain in biopsies negative for HPV 16 but positive for other high-risk genotypes. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of p16 IHC and how it can be optimized for the detection of cervical precancer, particularly in HPV-vaccinated populations where types other than HPV 16 are relatively more important.