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Updated February 19, 2013
The CAP Center and the ASCCP have released a joint guideline – The Lower Anogenital Squamous Terminology Standardization Project for HPV-associated Lesions: Background and Consensus Recommendations.
The LAST Project’s consensus recommendations provide a standardized diagnostic histopathologic terminology for squamous lesions associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) across lower anogenital tract body sites, including recommendations for the appropriate use of biomarkers to identify and distinguish these lesions.
Implementation of the new consensus recommendations will result in more reliable and reproducible diagnoses based on our current knowledge of the biology of HPV—ultimately leading to more effective patient management and improved patient outcomes. Physicians will receive more consistent biopsy diagnoses to help assess management options, including conservative follow-up or treatment, and more accurately evaluate a patient’s risk of having precancer.
The LAST consensus recommendations are based on an extensive literature review of terminology used historically, how terminology influences management of HPV-associated lesions by body sites, and the role of biomarkers in diagnosis. Thirty-five professional organizations participated in the deliberations, revisions, and final approval of the LAST consensus recommendations.
On June 28, 2012, the final approved recommendations were released online by joint publication in the Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease.
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LAST Consensus Recommendations and Methodology Supplement
