A recent study conducted by researchers of the U.S. Government suggest that one-third of all men who have anal cancer are usually HIV positive as well. The study also finds that gay men are more prone to get affected by anal cancer.
Anal cancer is a rare form of cancer that is caused through sexually transmitted viruses. A recent analysis by researchers of the U.S. Government found that one third of the men who are diagnosed with anal cancer are also found to be HIV positive. The study also found that gay men were more likely to be diagnosed with anal cancer.
The report was published Oct. 5 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The findings point to the importance of screening HIV-positive men for anal cancer, said study co-author Dr. Eric Engels, a senior investigator with the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
"In the United States, fewer than 1 percent of people have HIV infection. Yet when you look at anal cancer, 28 percent of all cases in men are in those who have HIV," he said.
The researchers found that of the 20,533 anal cancer cases between 1980 and 2005, an estimated 1,665 individuals were infected with HIV. In 2001-2005, the most recent time period examined, 1.2 percent of women with anal cancer and 28.4 percent of men with anal cancer were HIV-positive.
During 1980-2005, HIV infection did not have an impact on the increasing anal cancer incidence rates among women, but HIV had a strong impact on the increasing anal cancer incidence rates among men.
"A large proportion of U.S. males with anal cancer in recent years were HIV-infected," the authors write, adding that, "Measures that would effectively prevent anal cancer in HIV-infected males could markedly reduce anal cancer rates at the population level."
There is no treatment or cure for HPV, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"if one could prevent anal cancer in men with HPV, it would have a noticeable impact on the overall national burden of anal cancer," Engels said. "There is debate about whether that will be an effective approach. It's something that's being looked at."
Engels also said, "there haven't been definitive studies in people with HIV to know whether the HPV vaccine will prevent anal cancer."
