Screening for Anal Cancer in Women With a History of Vulvar High-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions.

OBJECTIVES

The primary obkective was to determine the prevalence of (a) a positive anal cancer screen and (b) histological anal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) in women undergoing surveillance for previously diagnosed and treated human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated vulvar HSIL. The secondary objective was to determine the patients' acceptability of the screen.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

This is a single-institution, cross-sectional pilot study. Women, aged 30 to 80 years, with a history of biopsy-proven vulvar HSIL were invited to undergo screening for anal cancer. Positive screen characterized by abnormalities in any of the following: anal high-risk HPV (HR-HPV); anal cytology; and digital anorectal examination. All women with an abnormal screen were referred for high-resolution anoscopy. All women completed a postscreen questionnaire.

RESULTS

Fifty-seven patients were recruited. The median (interquartile range) age was 61.5 (51.0-68.0) years. The prevalence of a positive screen was 56.1% (95% CI = 43.3%-68.2%). Of the 32 screen-positive patients, 12 had both abnormal cytology and HR-HPV, 3 had positive HR-HPV alone, and 17 had abnormal cytology alone. Of the 29 patients with a positive screen who went on to anoscopy, the prevalence of anal HSIL was 33.3% (95% CI = 19.2%-51.2%). The prevalence of anal HSIL among all of those who had screening (N = 57) was 18.2% (95% CI = 10.2%-30.3%). The examination was well tolerated with 100% of patients, indicating that they would have the screening again.

CONCLUSIONS

Women with vulvar HSIL have an increased risk of developing anal HSIL. Larger studies are needed to define optimal screening protocols as well as algorithms for management in high-risk populations.