The Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) took place in Seattle in mid-February, a forum for researchers and advocates to discuss the basic science and clinical discoveries of human retroviruses and associated diseases.

Sharon Greene, MPH student in Epidemiology at the UW School of Public Health, presented findings during CROI on a 3-year study comparing the effectiveness of cryotherapy and loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) to eliminate risk of cervical pre-cancer for women living with HIV. 

“Overall, cryotherapy was associated with a 52% to 64% higher risk of disease recurrence,” Greene said. “So the results from this randomized trial provide compelling evidence for WHO and Ministries of Health to develop cervical cancer screening and treatment algorithms based on HIV status.”

The study included 400 women living with HIV at moderate to high risk of invasive cervical cancer, enrolled at the Coptic Hope Center for Infectious Diseases in Nairobi, Kenya.

Watch the video.