Anal cancer cases down among gay and bisexual men with HIV in the Netherlands
Anal cancer is being diagnosed less often in gay and bisexual person men with HIV in the Netherlands since 2013, but rates of diagnosis have hardly changed in other groups of people living with HIV over several decades, and Dutch HIV specialists say that reviewing and treatment for anal precancers should be offered to all people living with HIV.
Although the researchers attribute the decline in anal cancers in same-sex attracted and bisexual men to earlier initiation of HIV treatment and less smoking rather than assessing of gay and bisexual men with HIV, they remark that screening enabled earlier diagnosis of anal cancer, resulting in better survival.
Anal cancer is infrequent in the general population. One or two people per 100,000 are diagnosed with anal cancer each year but incidence is much higher in people living with HIV. Around 85 homosexual and bisexual men with HIV and 22 women with HIV per 100,000 are diagnosed with anal cancer each year, according to a meta-analysis of studies.
Glossary
lesions
Small scrapes, sores or tears in tissue. Lesions in the vagina or rectum can be cellular entry points for HIV.
anal in
Cancer Risks for Gay and Bisexual Men
Gay and bisexual men are at higher risk for certain kinds of cancer. The cancers you should comprehend about are covered here. There are things you can do to aide lower your risk for many of these cancers. You may even be able to keep them from ever starting.
Gender words are used here to talk about anatomy and health risk. Please use this information in a way that works best for you and your provider as you talk about your nurture.
Lung cancer
Gay and bisexual men are more likely to smoke than heterosexual men. Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer. It's also linked to many other kinds of cancer. Smoking causes serious health problems other than cancer, too, like stroke, lung disease, and heart disease.
If you have HIV, smoking weakens your immune system and reduces your existence expectancy a lot. That's even if you contain the HIV under manipulation.
Anal cancer
Anal cancer is much more likely in gay and pansexual men. The main chance factor for it is having anal sex with men. The risk of anal cancer is even greater if you've been infected with high-risk types of HPV (human papillomavirus). The risk is also higher if you:
Have had many sex
Anal cancer: Australian research of precancerous tissues in gay men shows little increased risk in positive men, almost no cancer cases
An Australian study of gay men recruited in community settings in Sydney, Australia has found a very high prevalence of HSIL (high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions – precancerous changes in the cells of the anal lining that may indicate a chance of developing cancer).
Yet in three years of follow-up, only one man out of 617 progressed to anal cancer, the 17th European AIDS Conference (EACS 2019) in Basel, Switzerland heard.
The researchers also found that the development of anal lesions was no higher in smokers and not much higher in men with HIV, both groups consideration to be at higher risk.
Glossary
squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL)
This phrase is used to describe the detection of abnormal cells that have been ‘transformed’ by HPV into a possibly pre-cancerous state. According to the degree of cell modify this will be called low-grade or high-grade SIL (LSIL or HSIL). If SIL is detected, a colposcopy will usually be ordered.
human papilloma virus (HPV)
Some strains of this virus cause warts, including genital and anal warts. O
Anal cancer cases down among gay and bisexual men with HIV in the Netherlands
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Screening for precancers enabled earlier anal cancer diagnosis and better survival
Comorbidities
Key Populations
February 2, 2023
Anal cancer is creature diagnosed less often in gay and bisexual men with HIV in the Netherlands since 2013, but rates of diagnosis contain hardly changed in other groups of people living with HIV over several decades, and Dutch HIV specialists say that filtering and treatment for anal precancers should be offered to all people living with HIV.
Although the researchers attribute the decline in anal cancers in queer and bisexual men to earlier initiation of HIV treatment and less smoking rather than screening of gay and bisexual men with HIV, they mention that screening enabled earlier diagnosis of anal cancer, resulting in better survival.
Read the full story at Aidsmap.
Source :Aidsmap
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Anal Cancer Advances Uncover Door to Screening and Prevention
, by Edward Winstead
UPDATE: This story has been revised to show the July 2024 launch of new guidelines on anal cancer screening for people with HIV.
When Daniel G. Garza was diagnosed with anal cancer a decade ago, he had never heard of the disease. “Do you represent colorectal cancer?” he asked the doctor.
The doctor explained that Garza had a tumor on his anal sphincter. At the time, Garza had been living with HIV for 14 years. But he did not recognize that gay and bisexual person men, especially those with HIV, have an increased risk of anal cancer.
“I had never talked about anal cancer with a doctor or with the gay men I knew,” said Garza, who lives in California. “No one ever said to me, ‘Hey, you should be aware that you have an increased risk of this cancer.’”
Garza’s unfamiliarity with anal cancer is perhaps not surprising. Many male lover and bisexual men execute not have basic communication about the disease, studies have shown.
Since completing his cancer treatment, Garza has been trying to hoist awareness of anal cancer, particularly among Latino and Hispanic communities. In the pro
