Women Face Increased Anal Cancer Risk After Cervical Cancer

Women with a history of cervical cancer are nearly twice as likely to develop anal cancer when compared with members of the general population, according to investigators.

Research from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Hollings Cancer Center, published in JAMA Network Open, showed that anal cancer rates increased with age and over time. The most diagnoses were found in women age 65 to 74 years, more than 15 years after their original diagnosis, according to a release issued by MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. 

“Those women already have a history of cervical cancer; they fought a very strong disease, and unfortunately, our study shows that those women are at a higher risk of developing anal cancer compared [with] the general population,” explained the co-leader of the study, Haluk Damgacioglu, in an interview with CURE.

Damgacioglu, who holds a doctoral degree, is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina and is also a member of MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.

He recently sat down for an interview with CURE to discuss the study and its findings.

Transcript

Can you explain why your team chose to focus on the connection between cervical cancer and the risk of developing anal cancer?

In this study, we are working on anal cancer. Anal cancer is a rare cancer, and more than 90% of the anal cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus. Although it's a rare cancer, there are certain populations at higher risk, including people with HIV; another one of the risk groups that has been considered is women with a history of cervical cancer. However, there is limited knowledge and data on this topic. Therefore, [information on] the incidence and the risk of anal cancer is limited for women with a history of cervical cancer.

We particularly tried to look at this problem to address the knowledge gap in the literature. This is important because these women already have a history of cervical cancer; they fought a very strong disease, and unfortunately, our study shows those women are at a higher risk of developing anal cancer compared [with] the general population. [The general population are] women without any specific diseases, including HIV, or any history of cervical cancer.

Although this is hard, these women should know that there can be a risk of developing another cancer. The knowledge is important here because anal cancer is preventable through screening.

Reference

1. “Anal Cancer Incidence Among Women With a History of Cervical Cancer by Age and Time Since Diagnosis,” by Haluk Damgacioglu, et al. JAMA Network Open.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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