A Randomized Controlled, Open-label Trial Examining the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Ablative Therapies for High-grade Anal Dysplasia Versus Observation Alone in HIV-positive Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM)

Since the 1990s, combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has markedly reduced HIV-related opportunistic infections and mortality [1], and increased the life expectancy of people living with HIV [2]. While acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining malignancies have declined [3,4], non-AIDS defining malignancies continue to occur at higher rates in HIV-infected persons than in the general population [4]. Amongst these are cancers associated with HPV which is responsible for the vast majority of cervical cancers (itself a well-established AIDS-defining illness), and an estimated 90% of SCC of the anal canal [5]. cART not only fails to protect against anal pre-cancers and cancers [4,6,7], but the incidence of anal SCC is increasing in the cART era [6,8]. Because of this increasing burden of disease, there is an urgent need to find effective ways of preventing anal SCC in those living with HIV. This includes screening for anal cancer precursors and ablative treatment of these lesions.

Though it is infrequent at a rate of 1 per 100 000, anal SCC is on the rise in the general population [9]. It occurs at significantly higher rates in HIV-positive men - particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM) - with an estimated rate of 60 to 160 per 100 000 [4], and no evidence of slowing in the era of increased cART use [10] (See Figure 1). In fact, rates of anal cancer among HIV-infected MSM are comparable to rates of cervical cancer in women prior to the adoption of routine screening for cervical dysplasia [11]. According to data from the Public Health Agency of Canada, rates of cervical cancer in 1972 were 18 per 100 000, dropping to just under 8 per 100 000 in 2004 [12]. In addition to its etiologic association with HPV, anal cancer shares many similarities with cervical cancer. Both are squamous cell cancers occurring at the squamocolumnar junction [13,14] and both likely arise from histologically-similar dysplastic precursor lesions [15,16]. It is postulated that a critical step in anal cancer carcinogenesis is the establishment of persistent infection with oncogenic HPV in the anal canal [16]. Though the majority of HPV infections are considered transient and will eventually clear even in HIV-positive individuals [17], HIV-positive individuals have higher rates of persistent infection, especially with oncogenic HPV types [18].

Of the greater than 170 HPV types, over 50 favour the anogenital area and, on the basis of epidemiologic and phylogenetic data, these have been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer [19]. The vast majority of anal cancers (as well as cervical cancers) are caused by two high-risk HPV types: HPV type 16 and HPV type 18 which are responsible for 66% and 5% of anal cancers, respectively [20]. HPV lesions caused by low-risk HPV (LR-HPV) types include condylomata (commonly known as 'genital warts'), of which 90% are caused by HPV types 6 and 11 [21]. Prevention strategies for anal cancers have emerged that are analogous to strategies used in cervical cancer screening, in that the aim is to identify precursor lesions which can then be removed before progression to cancer. Screening and detection rely on a combination of anal cytology (Papanicolaou, or Pap smear), anal HPV detection and high-resolution anoscopy (HRA) which is analogous to colposcopy). Visually-directed anal biopsy during HRA is considered the gold standard for detecting dysplastic lesions such as high-grade anal intraepithelial neoplasia (HGAIN; typically graded as AIN-2 or -3) [16,22]. Anal cytology is generally used as a screening test to determine whether HRA is needed; however, cytology is an imperfect predictor of intra-anal HGAIN. Despite the clear evidence indicating the benefit of screening and treatment procedures in cervical cancer screening, no large rigorous studies have been performed to assess such strategies in anal cancer prevention in men or women.