HPV and precancerous lesions of anal canal in women: systematic review

Natural History of Anal HPV Infection in Women Treated for Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia

Women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions/cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (HSIL/CIN) are at high risk of anal human papillomavirus HPV infection, and it has also been suggested that self-inoculation of the virus from the anal canal to the cervix could explain HPV recurrence in the cervix after treatment of HSIL/CIN. We aimed to evaluate the bidirectional interactions of HPV infection between these two anatomical sites. We evaluated 68 immunocompetent women undergoing excisional treatment for HSIL/CIN. Immediately before treatment, samples from the anus and the cervix were obtained (baseline anal and cervical HPV status). Cervical HPV clearance after treatment was defined as treatment success. The first follow-up control was scheduled 4-6 months after treatment for cervical and anal samples. High resolution anoscopy (HRA) was performed on patients with persistent anal HPV infections or abnormal anal cytology in the first control. Baseline anal HPV was positive in 42/68 (61.8%) of the women. Anal HPV infection persisted after treatment in 29/68 (42.6%) of the women. One-third of these women (10/29; 34.5%) had HSIL/anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN). Among women achieving treatment success, cervical HPV in the first control was positive in 34.6% and 17.6% of the patients with positive and negative baseline anal HPV infection, respectively (p = 0.306). In conclusion, patients with persisting anal HPV after HSIL/CIN treatment are at high risk of HSIL/AIN, suggesting that these women would benefit from anal exploration. The study also suggests that women with anal HPV infection treated for HSIL/CIN might be at higher risk of recurrent cervical HPV even after successful treatment.

Prevalence of anal dysplasia and HPV genotypes in gynecology patients: The ANGY cross-sectional prospective clinical study protocol

BACKGROUND

Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) are highly prevalent in the sexually active populations, with a significant burden in terms of health and psychological cost in all class ages. High-risk (HR) HPV genotypes are associated with anogenital dysplasia and cancers, and anal HPV-induced cancer is increasingly observed in women. The interactions of HPV genotype's between the anus and the cervix, and the subsequent occurrence of dysplasia remains unclear. This clinical study set out to test the hypothesis that risk factors for anal HR-HPV and dysplasia may differ in women with or without cervical dysplasia or in HIV-positive women.

METHODS

Cervical and anal HPV genotypes and cytology testing will be performed prospectively in a cohort of women recruited in a tertiary university hospital in Switzerland. Women will be allocated to three groups: 1) normal previous cervical smear; 2) high-grade cervical dysplasia (H-SIL) at previous cervical smear; 3) HIV+, independently of previous cervical smear result. General inclusion criteria comprised the followings: Female-Age > = 18 years; Satisfactory understanding of French; No objection to HIV testing. Specific inclusion criteria are: Group 1, no past or current gynecological dysplasia and HIV negative; Group 2, Gynecological dysplasia (H-SIL) or carcinoma in situ demonstrated by histology (vulvar, vaginal or cervical) and HIV negative; Group 3: HIV-positive (regardless of viremia or CD4 count) with or without gynecological dysplasia. General exclusion criteria are: Pregnancy; History of anal dysplasia/cancer; Status after pelvic radiotherapy; Absence of anus and anal canal. Estimated prevalences of anal dysplasia are: in group 1, 1% (0-2%); in group 2, 15% (5-27%), and in group 3, 30% (19-45%). With a 10% margin error, a sample size of 120 women per group is required to reach 90% power for detecting statistical significance (unilateral α error of 5%).

DISCUSSION

The primary endpoint is the prevalence of anal and cervical dysplasia, and description of the respective HPV genotypes in each group. The results of this study could improve the standard of screening of cervical and anal dysplasia in women through evidence of concomitant presence of HPV's and/or dysplasia in anus or cervix to support vaccination for instance. Beginning of recruitment started in September 2016. Results should be presented in end of 2022. Preliminary analysis for first 100 patients reveals that the mean age of the population is 39.6 (± 10.9) years with mean age of first sexual intercourse of 18.5 (± 3.9) years. In this cohort, 12% are vaccinated and 38% having had anal intercourse. Overall, 43% of the studied population had cervical HR-HPV in the studied population, and 53% had normal cytology. Anal LR HPV and HR HP were found in 27.6% and 38.4% of all patients respectively. Eighty percent had normal anal cytology. Groups 1,2 and 3 had a significant difference in terms of age, gestity, parity, age of first sexual intercourse, systematic use of condom, number of cervical LR HPV and HR HPV and abnormal cervical cytologies.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was approved by the institutional review board-CER-VD#2015-00200-on the 29th of June 2016 and is registered on the Swiss National Clinical Trials Portal (SNCTP), SNCTP000002567, Registered 29 June 2016, https://www.kofam.ch/en/snctp-portal/study/40742/.

Anal cytology in women: Experience from a single tertiary center

INTRODUCTION

Anal cytology (AC) can be used as a screening tool for detection of anal HPV associated lesions, mainly in men who have sex with men and in immunosuppressed patients. Our aim is to review our experience with AC in women.

MATERIAL & METHODS

We have retrospectively reviewed all AC diagnosed between 2010-2017 in a single tertiary hospital (n = 644) and selected those performed in women (n = 158).

RESULTS

24.53% of AC were performed in women. 14.7% of all women were HIV positive and 56.7% referred anal intercourse. Squamous lesions were found in 27.2% of women, most of them ASCUS and LSIL (14% and 11.5%). HPV DNA was detected in 38.6% of patients, and 63.9% of them showed positivity for multiple high-risk types. Anal biopsy showed high grade lesions in 20% of biopsied patients. We observed a significant relationship between HPV status and receptive anal sex, and the association between HPV status and anal histological diagnosis tended to significance. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value and positive predictive value for anal cytology were 57%; 83%; 28% and 94%, respectively. 70.9% of women had synchronous cervical cytology, and squamous cervical lesions were detected in 46.4% of the cases, most of them LSIL or ASCUS (21.4% and 15.2%). We did not confirm a significant association between cytological diagnosis of cervical and anal samples.

CONCLUSIONS

AC is less widely used in women than in homosexual men. However, women show important rates of anal lesions, regardless of their HIV status. More studies should be performed to assess the potential impact of screening protocols in this population.

The Role of MicroRNAs in the Metastatic Process of High-Risk HPV-Induced Cancers

High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven cancers represent a major health concern worldwide. Despite the constant effort to develop and promote vaccination against HPVs, there is still a high percentage of non-vaccinated population. Furthermore, secondary prevention programs are not ubiquitous worldwide and not widely followed. Metastatic disease is the cause of the great majority of cancer-associated deaths, making it essential to determine its underlying mechanisms and to identify actionable anti-metastatic targets. Within certain types of cancer (e.g., head and neck), HPV-positive tumors show different dissemination patterns when compared with their HPV-negative counterparts, implicating HPV-related factors in the metastatic process. Among the many groups of biomolecules dysregulated by HPV, microRNAs have recently emerged as key regulators of carcinogenesis, able to control complex processes like cancer metastization. In this review, we present recent data on the role of microRNAs in the metastization of HPV-related cancers and on their possible clinical relevance as biomarkers of metastatic disease and/or as therapeutic targets.

Genotypic diversity of anogenital human papillomavirus in women attending cervical cancer screening in Harare, Zimbabwe

Although anogenital cancers have been on a gradual rise in developing countries in the past few decades, they have been understudied. The objective was to investigate genotypic diversity of anogenital HPV amongst women reporting for routine cervical cancer screening in Harare in Zimbabwe. A cross-sectional study that enrolled 144 women ≥18 years from a cervical cancer-screening clinic was performed. Each woman provided a self-collected cervico-vaginal swab (VS) and a clinician-collected anal swab (CCAS). HIV testing was offered and cervical cytology was performed. Both VS and CCAS samples were HPV genotyped, using amplicon sequencing of the L1 gene region with Illumina technology. Mean age of the women was 39.9 (range 18-83 years, SD ± 11.0). HPV prevalence was 72% (104/144) in VS and 48% (69/144) in CCAS. The most common genotypes detected in both VS and CCAS were HPV18, HPV52, and HPV16. Sixty two percent of the subjects had multiple genotypic HPV infections. The odds of being HPV-positive among HIV-infected women were higher than in HIV-negative women in both the vagina and the anus (CCAS OR = 4.8; CI 2.4-9.8, P < 0.001) and (VS OR = 2.9; CI 1.3-6.4, P = 0.005). High HPV prevalence and diverse genotypes were detected in both the vagina and anus. Anal oncogenic HPV infection was common. HPV 52 was one of the most common oncogenic genotypes in both the vagina and anus. HIV co-infection played a significant role in the prevalence of HPV. These data have implications for design of primary and secondary programs for prevention of anogenital cancer in Zimbabwe.

Determinants of macroscopic anal cancer and precancerous lesions in 1206 HIV-infected screened patients

AIM

Anal screening is recommended in HIV-positive patients, especially men who have sex with men (MSM), due to an increased incidence of anal cancer. The optimal screening methods are not generally agreed.

METHOD

Screening for anal lesions by anorectal examination, including anoscopy, was offered to HIV-positive outpatients in a tertiary care university hospital regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

RESULTS

Among the 1206 screened patients (701 MSM, 247 heterosexual men, 258 women), 311 (26%) had histologically proven lesions related to human papilloma virus (HPV) (34% MSM, 14% heterosexual men, 14% women); 123 (10%) had low-grade dysplasia and 70 (6%) high-grade dysplasia. Seven anal cancers were also diagnosed. Determinants of any lesion were age < 45 years [OR = 1.56 (95% CI, 1.16-2.11)], a CD4 count of < 200/mm³ [OR = 2.54 (1.71-3.78)], receptive anal intercourse [OR =3.03 (2.06-4.47)], sub-Saharan African origin [OR = 0.53 (0.33-0.85)], and history of HPV-related lesion [OR = 1.84 (1.35-2.51)]. These determinants were similar for all different grades of dysplasia. In patient subgroup analysis, receptive anal intercourse, the CD4 cell count and a history of HPV lesions were determinants of HPV-positivity in all patients, whereas age was only a determinant in men.

CONCLUSION

Anoscopy is an alternative method for anal screening in an HIV-positive population. This screening has to be compared with other tools in populations at high risk of anal cancer.

Site of infections associated with human papillomavirus

INTRODUCTION

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most clinically common sexually transmitted infection due to its carcinogenic power and the high number of lesions that it causes at different sites of the human body.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Genital tract organs are the most common sites where the virus can be found, but by increasing the sensitivity of diagnostic technique, it is possible to identify viral presence in different regions of the body such as the stomach, the lung, and the urinary tract. These findings break with the traditional HPV skin/genital tropic profile and demonstrate that the virus is capable of infecting a wide variety of cells, tissues, and organs or can, at least, survive in these areas. The widespread presence of the HPV in the human body, often in latent form, led us to consider the hypothesis that HPV latency may be associated with no disease.

CONCLUSION

This observation raises further questions about the possibility of the virus not causing disease in specific sites of the human body, but rather, behaving like a commensal/opportunistic microorganism.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes in an Australian sample of anal cancers

Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes most cases of anal cancers. In this study, we analyzed biopsy material from 112 patients with anal cancers in Australia for the presence of HPV DNA by the INNO LiPA HPV genotyping assay. There were 82% (92) males and 18% (20) females. The mean age at diagnosis was significantly (p = 0.006) younger for males (52.5 years) than females (66 years). HIV-infected males were diagnosed at a much earlier mean age (48.2 years) than HIV negative (56.3 years) males (p = 0.05). HPV DNA was detected in 96.4% (108) of cases. HPV type 16 was the commonest, at 75% (81) of samples and being the sole genotype detected in 61% (66). Overall, 79% (85) of cases had at least one genotype targeted by the bivalent HPV (bHPV) vaccine, 90% (97) by the quadrivalent HPV (qHPV) vaccine and 96% (104) by the nonavalent HPV (nHPV) vaccine. The qHPV vaccine, which is now offered to all secondary school students in Australia, may prevent anal cancers in Australia. However, given the mean age of onset of this condition, the vaccine is unlikely to have a significant impact for several decades. Further research is necessary to prove additional protective effects of the nHPV vaccine.

Natural history of anal human papillomavirus infection in heterosexual women and risks associated with persistence

BACKGROUND

Anal cancer is more common in women than in men, yet little is known about the natural history of human papillomavirus (HPV) in women. The objective was to examine the natural history of anal HPV in heterosexual women.

METHODS

Young women participating in an HPV cohort study were seen at 4-month intervals for cervical and anal HPV testing. Time to clearance was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier approach; risks for persistence were assessed using Cox regression models.

RESULTS

Seventy-five women (mean age, 23.5 ± 4.1 years) who tested positive for anal HPV were followed for a mean of 84.5 ± 44.9 months. By 3 years, 82.5% of anal non-16 high-risk (HR) HPV, 82.6% of low-risk (LR) HPV, and 76.2% of HPV-16 infections had cleared. By 3 years, only 36.4% of women had become negative for all HPV types. In the multivariable model, concurrent cervical HPV-16 (P < .001), weekly alcohol use (P = .015), anal touching during sex (P = .045), recent anal sex (P = .04), and no condom use during anal sex (P = .04) were associated with HPV-16 persistence. Greater number of new sex partners (P = .024) and condom use during vaginal sex (P = .003) were associated with clearance. Similar associations were found for clearance in all HR-HPV infections. Only concomitant cervical HPV was associated with non-16 HR-HPV persistence.

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of anal HPV infections cleared within 3 years. HPV-16 infections were slower to clear than other HR-HPV infections, consistent with its role in anal cancer. Specific sexual behaviors were associated with persistence, suggesting that education and behavioral interventions may decrease persistence.