Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title:  HPV testing for cervical cancer screening: technical improvement of laboratory logistics 
and good clinical performance of the cobas 6800 in comparison to the 4800 system.  
 
Version: 1 Date: 11 Nov 2018 
 
Reviewer:  Collette  Bromhead  
 
Reviewer’s report:  
 
The authors have answered my previous queries satisfactorily and included changes to their 
manuscript that I am satisfied improve it to the level required for publication.  There is one 
paragrap h in the methods section on page 7 in lines 123 -130 that was very hard to understand 
because of the poor English, I have written a new version of this paragraph as a suggestion for 
the authors to consider:  
 
"Both cobas HPV real -time PCR assays detect the s ame 14 types of HPV, use the same primers 
and probes, and provide partial genotyping for HPV16 and HPV18. The two assays do however 
differ in their Thermal Cycling (CT) profile, (the cobas6800/8800 runs a universal thermal 
cycling profile to allow for mixe d batching of different PCR tests), as well as in the elution 
sample volume amplified (50μl on 6800/8800 vs 150μl on 4800 out of a 400μl aliquot of 
extracted nucleic acids).  
 
Both HPV assays were performed according to the manufacturer's instructions. Eac h plate 
contained 92 clinical samples, 2 controls (selected from 10 internal and 5 external quality 
controls) and 2 clinical samples previously found to be invalid by the cobas 4800 HPV test."  
 
I hope that is helpful.  
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to asses s the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of th e 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents relating t o the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -finan cial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I have previously received educational grants from Roche Diagnostics NZ.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal. I understand that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted for publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors' 
responses. I  agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative Commons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be included as confidential comments 
to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal