Analysis of the Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy in Treating Cervical Lesions and HPV Infections and Its Influencing Factors

To evaluate the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical lesions, meanwhile factors influencing the efficacy of PDT were analyzed. A retrospective analysis was performed on 110 patients with HPV infection and cervical lesions. All patients underwent HPV genotyping, ThinPrep Cytology Test (TCT), and pathological examination, the changes before and after PDT treatment for 6 months were analyzed. In evaluating the therapeutic effect, if HPV is completely eliminated or cervical lesions return to normal, it was counted in the negative conversion rate; If HPV is partially eliminated or cervical lesions are downgraded but not return to normal, it was counted in the effective rate. Meanwhile, patients were grouped according to HPV vaccination history, menopausal status, transformation zone type and previous HPV infection history, and the therapeutic effects of anti-HPV and cervical lesion were compared among different groups. After PDT, the negative conversion rate of HPV was 45.45% with an effective rate of 64.54%; the negative conversion rate of TCT was 63.51% with an effective rate of 68.91%; and the negative conversion rate of pathology was 72.22% with an effective rate of 79.62%. The HPV negative conversion rate (78.57% vs. 35.36%) and TCT negative conversion rate (83.33% vs. 57.14%) in the vaccinated population were significantly higher than those in the unvaccinated population (p<0.05). The non-menopausal population showed significantly higher TCT negative conversion rate (72.00% vs. 45.83%) and effective rate (78.00% vs. 45.83%), as well as pathological negative conversion rate (85.36% vs. 30.76%) and effective rate (87.80% vs. 46.15%) compared with the menopausal population (p<0.05). Patients with type Ⅰ and Ⅱ transformation zone (TZ) show significantly better outcomes than those with TZ3 in anti-HPV treatment and cervical lesion management (p<0.05). Patients without a history of HPV infection had significantly higher TCT negative conversion rate (73.33% vs. 35.89%) and effective rate (73.33% vs. 46.15%) than those with a previous infection history (p<0.05). PDT shows good therapeutic effects in both HPV infection and cervical lesions. In addition, better therapeutic effects are observed in populations with a history of HPV vaccination, non-menopausal populations, populations without previous HPV infection, and those with type Ⅰ or Ⅱ cervical transformation zones.