Screening for HPV and dysplasia in transgender patients: Do we need it?

Neovaginal Human Papillomavirus Prevalence in Transfeminine Individuals: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

To assess the prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) and human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated abnormalities in the neovaginas of postvaginoplasty transfeminine patients to inform potential HPV-screening guidelines for this patient population.

DATA SOURCES

MEDLINE, ClinicalTrials.gov , the Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched through September 30, 2022.

METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION

The population included transfeminine individuals who had undergone vaginoplasty with an outcome of subsequent positive HPV diagnosis or HPV-related lesions. Randomized clinical trials, cohort studies, cross-sectional studies, and case reports available in English were included in the analysis. Identified articles were doubly screened, and accepted articles were doubly extracted.

TABULATION, INTEGRATION, AND RESULTS

Of 59 abstracts identified, 30 were screened for eligibility, of which 15 met the criteria for review. Included studies were assessed for vaginoplasty procedure type, time elapsed between vaginoplasty and HPV testing, HPV type, location and manner of sample collection, method of HPV diagnosis, and classification and location of HPV-associated neovaginal lesions. Studies were assigned a grade of evidence of very low, low, moderate, or high based on study design, precision, directness, and risk of bias. Prevalence of neovaginal hrHPV ranged from 8.3% to 20% in identified studies, and per-study prevalence of HPV-related neovaginal abnormalities ranged from 0% to 8.3% in patients.

CONCLUSION

The current body of research demonstrates that, after vaginoplasty, transfeminine individuals may develop neovaginal HPV infection with associated cytologic abnormalities or grossly apparent lesions. In some included studies, neovaginal HPV-associated lesions were highly advanced before they were identified. A small number of studies assessed neovaginal HPV prevalence in transfeminine individuals, with hrHPV prevalence ranging from 8.3% to 20%. However, broader conclusions about neovaginal HPV prevalence are limited by a lack of high-grade evidence in the existing literature. More rigorous prevalence research is needed to inform preventative care guidelines for transfeminine individuals at risk of developing HPV-related neovaginal complications.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO, CRD42022379977.

Canadian Guideline on the Management of a Positive Human Papillomavirus Test and Guidance for Specific Populations

The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence-based guidance on the management of a positive human papilloma virus (HPV) test and to provide guidance around screening and HPV testing for specific patient populations. The guideline was developed by a working group in collaboration with the Gynecologic Oncology Society of Canada (GOC), Society of Colposcopists of Canada (SCC), and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. The literature informing these guidelines was obtained through a systematic review of relevant literature by a multi-step search process led by an information specialist. The literature was reviewed up to July 2021 with manual searches of relevant national guidelines and more recent publications. The quality of the evidence and strength of recommendations were developed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. The intended users of this guideline include primary care providers, gynecologists, colposcopists, screening programs, and healthcare facilities. The implementation of the recommendations will ensure an optimum implementation of HPV testing with a focus on the management of positive results. Recommendations for appropriate care for underserved and marginalized groups are made.

Cytology and LGBT+ health: establishing inclusive cancer screening programs

There are substantial disparities in cancer screening for sexual minorities and gender non-conforming patients. In additional to patients having trauma due to negative experiences with the healthcare system, disparities may be heightened due to heteronormative and cisnormative design of screening programs and electronic medical record systems. Furthermore, there are morphologic challenges specific to certain specimen types from the LGBT + population, such as anal cytology samples, cervical cytology from transgender men taking testosterone, and neovaginal cytology samples. Men who have sex with men are at increased risk for anal cancer compared with the general population. While early detection of anal dysplasia decreases the risk of invasive carcinoma, screening programs are not widespread. Cervical cancer screening may be psychologically and physically challenging for transgender men and non-binary patients. The use of exogenous testosterone therapy causes atrophic changes in cervical cytology samples which mimic high-grade dysplasia. The rate of unsatisfactory samples are also increased in this population. Although HPV driven cancers have been reported in patients with neovaginas, there are currently no guidelines about appropriate screening for transgender women and intersex patients who have neovaginas. Cytopathologists can optimize the health of LGBT + patients in many ways including advocating for inclusive screening guidelines, validating self-collection for HPV and cytology samples, updating requisition forms to better capture the spectrum of gender expression, and recognizing the morphologic changes in cytology samples due to exogenous hormone use.

Human Papillomavirus Infection: Knowledge, Risk Perceptions and Behaviors among SMW and AFAB

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States, and persistent HPV infection has been established as playing a major role in the development of cervical cancer. Providing HPV vaccination and regular screening tests have reduced the risk of developing cervical cancer or helped to detect the cancer at an early stage. Despite the above measures, cervical cancer still remains a major public health problem worldwide. Infection with HPV, and consequently cervical cancer, affects all people with an intact cervix, so not only heterosexual women, but also women from sexual minorities (SMW) together with people assigned female at birth (AFAB). These populations may be even more likely to develop cervical cancer, mainly because they are less likely to be aware of HPV transmission and prevention of cervical cancer. In our review, we summarized the current state of HPV knowledge, collected data assessing the orientation of this issue among SMW and AFAB, and indicated the causes of possible negligence in the prevention of cervical cancer.

Southern African HIV Clinicians' Society gender-affirming healthcare guideline for South Africa

No abstract available.