Concomitant Cervical and Anal Screening for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV): Worth the Effort or a Waste of Time?

Background: This study represents a follow-up analysis of the (ANGY) study.

Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional, single-center study recruited women for concomitant cervical and anal screening of HPV genotypes and cytology during a single appointment. All women with findings of either HPV or any type of dysplastic lesions on anal smears were offered follow-up in a specialized high-resolution anoscopy (HRA) outpatient clinic, representing the study cohort for this follow-up study.

Results: Overall, 275 patients (mean age 42 ± 12) were included. Among them, 102 (37%) had cervical high-risk (HR) HPV. In total, HPV was (incidentally) revealed in 91 patients (33%) on anal smears, while any degree of anal squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) was found in 30 patients (11%), 6 if which were high-grade SIL (H-SIL). Furthermore, 10 out of 19 biopsies were positive (3 H-SIL lesions). Only half (48/91, 53%) of the women agreed to undergo the recommended specialized follow-up evaluation. Of them, 18 (38%) were diagnosed with dysplastic lesions (9 low grade (L-SIL) and 9 H-SIL, respectively) on biopsies, while the remaining visits revealed no abnormalities. Multivariable analysis revealed cervical HR-HPV infection (OR 4, 95% CI 2.2-7.5) and anal intercourse (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.7-5.9) as independent risk factors for anal HR-HPV infection.

Conclusions: Close follow-up of these women is hence strongly recommended.