Clinical Trial: Anal Cancer Screening Study

Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Observational




Official Title: Anal Cancer Screening Study

Brief Summary:

Background:

  • HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) have rates of anal cancer that approach those of cervical cancer in women. However, unlike cervical cancer, there is no current recommended method of screening that could be used to detect anal precancerous lesions for the prevention of anal cancer in HIV-positive MSM.
  • Infections by human papillomavirus (HPV) are the likely cause of cervical and anal precancer and cancer. Detecting the presence of HPV or related biomarkers has helped to identify women who may be at increased risk of cervical cancer; researchers believe that early detection of HPV or related biomarkers in MSM may be useful for anal cancer screening.

Objectives:

- To evaluate the effectiveness of various tests to detect cancer-causing HPV in HIV-positive men who have sex with men.

Eligibility:

- HIV-positive MSM that are interested in receiving anal screening for precancer

Design:

  • HIV-positive MSM will respond to a self-administered risk factor questionnaire, and will undergo a physical exam and a high-resolution anoscopy at the participating clinic.
  • The clinician will then collect to anal Pap specimens from each subject for research on HPV and related biomarkers.
  • Participants will be followed annually for 2 years to collect additional health data for research follow-up.