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Rates of anal cancer are higher in HIV-positive versus HIV-negative men, according to a study published in the August 1 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The authors of the study also indicate that anal cancer rates among people living with HIV have actually increased since the introduction of combination antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.
These conclusions were reported by Gypsyamber D’Souza, PhD, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and her colleagues after examining the medical records of men enrolled in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). The MACS study, designed to evaluate the long-term progression and treatment of HIV infection, has enrolled 6,792 HIV-negative and HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM).
There have been 28 diagnoses of anal cancer since the study began in 1984. While the overall rate and number of anal cancer diagnoses have been relatively low for all the men, D’Souza’s team determined that the HIV-positive men were five times more likely to be diagnosed with anal cancer than the HIV-negative men. Moreover, when the team analyzed the data based on the year of anal cancer diagnosis, they found that anal cancer rates have actually increased since combination ARV therapy was introduced in 1996.
The authors hypothesize that because ARV treatment is helping people live so much longer with HIV, precancerous lesions now have sufficient time to develop into cancer.
