Our very own Dr. Kyle Benda, Medical Site Director – 1525 (NW), was interviewed for the medical journal published by CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy) about the importance of screening for HPV-related anal cancers – especially those people who have HIV, as they are particularly at risk.
EXCERPTS:
Immune suppression increases risk of HPV-related cancers.
Almost everyone who has ever had sex has been exposed to HPV, a large family of viruses that cause six types of cancer: anal cancer, cervical cancer, head and neck cancer, penis cancer, vaginal cancer, and vulvar cancer.
HPV spreads through intimate, skin-to-skin contact. In the vast majority of cases, the immune system keeps HPV in check, and the virus doesn’t pose a threat.
People with weakened immune systems, including those with HIV or who have received solid-organ transplants, are at much higher risk.
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Healthcare providers also can screen and treat people at high risk for anal HPV.
In 2022, a landmark trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that screening and treating anal precancers in people with HIV reduced the risk that the growths would become cancerous by 57%.
Screening for anal cancer is similar to screenings for cervical cancer. Healthcare providers use a swab to test for HPV, and also perform an anal Pap test, which collects cells to be examined under the microscope.
If the anal Pap test finds abnormal cells, clinicians perform an office procedure called anoscopy, using a special tool to examine the anal canal and, if needed, take tissue samples for analysis, Froehle said. Healthcare providers can remove precancerous lesions before they become malignant.
At Whitman-Walker Health in Washington, DC, medical site director Kyle Benda, DO, recommends anoscopy for anyone infected with HPV 16, even if their Pap test appears normal.
He also lets patients collect their own samples while at the clinic. People can screen themselves for anal HPV much like people test themselves at home for COVID-19. The major difference is that HPV samples go to a lab.
“I almost exclusively offer self-test options,” Benda said. “It takes a minute or two of instruction about how to collect the sample. It’s worked out really well for us and has increased our patients’ willingness to be screened.”
Read full article in CIDRAP:
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/hivaids/hiv-dramatically-increases-risk-hpv-related-anal-cancer-data-show
