HPV can cause cervical cancer and testing for cervical HPV is a way to screen for the disease.
Human papillomavirus or HPV can cause cervical cancer and testing for cervical HPV is a way to screen for the disease. HPV may also infect the anus and is associated with anal cancer but the infection appears to resolve relatively quickly.
Researchers from America studied 431 sexually active women to examine the factors associated with anal HPV infection and its clearance. Viral and non-viral determinants of anal HPV clearance were examined in all the subjects. At baseline and at 4-month intervalsparticipants were interviewed and cervical and anal cell specimens were obtained for detection of HPV DNA.
During the follow up of 14 months, it was found that 50 percent of the women incurred a total of 414 anal HPV infections. Of these, 58 percent cleared during follow-up. The clearance rate for high-risk anal infection was 9 per 100 woman-months. The average duration of infection of the types of HPV considered high risk was 150 days, although this varied from type to type. Delayed clearance was linked to douching, long-term smoking, and having anal sex.
The fact that anal infections are relatively short-lived raises the possibility that anal HPV testing might be a less effective cancer-screening tool, as compared to cervical HPV testing. Further studies are required to judge the efficacy of anal HPV testing as a test for anal cancer screening.
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