In developed countries the incidence of anal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has been rising; especially in women over the age of 60 years who present with more advanced disease stage than men. Historically, anal SCC screening has focused on people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (PLWH) who are considered to be at the highest risk of anal SCC, and its precancerous lesion, anal squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL). Despite this, women with vulval high-grade squamous epithelial lesions (HSIL) and SCCs have been shown to be as affected by anal HSIL and SCC as some PLWH. Nevertheless, there are no guidelines for the management of anal HSIL in this patient group. The ANCHOR trial demonstrated that treating anal HSIL significantly reduces the risk of anal SCC in PLWH, there is therefore an unmet requirement to clarify whether the screening and treatment of HSIL in women with a prior genital HSIL is also beneficial. This review presents the current evidence supporting the screening, treatment, and surveillance of anal HSIL in high-risk women with a previous history of genital HSIL and/or SCC.

Anal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ASCC) is an HPV-related malignancy with increasing incidence in high-income economies. Although ethnicity and social deprivation are known to be risk factors in other malignancies, little is known about socioeconomic status and risk of ASCC. This is a cross-sectional study following the STROBE Statement. Demographic data from the English Clinical Outcomes and Services Dataset (COSD) were extracted for all patients diagnosed with ASCC in England between 2013 and 2018. Outcomes included ethnicity, social deprivation, staging and treatment. This study included 5457 patients. Incidence increased by 23.4% in 5 years, with female incidence increasing more rapidly than male incidence (28.6% vs. 13.5%). Men were more likely to present with early staging (p < 0.001) and have surgery as their only treatment (p < 0.001). The rate of incidence of Stage 1 tumours in men was 106.9%; however, women had the greatest increase in metastatic tumours (76.1%). Black Caribbean and Black African patients were more likely to present at an earlier age with later staging (p < 0.001) and social deprivation was associated with younger age (p < 0.001). ASCC incidence is rapidly increasing in patterns consistent with two separate populations: one male with early staging, the other female and related to social deprivation and ethnicity factors.

The incidences of anogenital HPV-related cancers in women are on the rise; this is especially true for anal cancer. Medical societies are now beginning to recommend anal cancer screening in certain high-risk populations, including high-risk women with a history of genital dysplasia. The aim of this study is to investigate national anogenital HPV cancer trends as well as the role of demographics, deprivation, and ethnicity on anogenital cancer incidence in England, in an attempt to better understand this cohort of women which is increasingly affected by anogenital HPV-related disease. Demographic data from the Clinical Outcomes and Services Dataset (COSD) were extracted for all patients diagnosed with anal, cervical, vulval and vaginal cancer in England between 2014 and 2020. Outcomes included age, ethnicity, deprivation status and staging. An age over 55 years, non-white ethnicity and high deprivation are significant risk factors for late cancer staging, as per logistic regression. In 2019, the incidences of anal and vulval cancer in white women aged 55–74 years surpassed that of cervical cancer. More needs to be done to educate women on HPV-related disease and their lifetime risk of these conditions.

Objectives Anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) is an uncommon cancer that is rapidly increasing in incidence. HIV is a risk factor in the development of ASCC, and it is thought that the rapidly increasing incidence in men is related to increasing numbers of people living with HIV (PLWH). We undertook a population-based study comparing the demographics and incidence of ASCC in patients residing high HIV prevalence areas in England to patients living in average HIV prevalence areas in England. Methods This is a cross-sectional study following the ‘Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology’ statement. Demographic data and incidence rates of ASCC within Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) between 2013 and 2018 were extracted from the Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset. CCGs were then stratified by HIV prevalence from data given by Public Health England, and high HIV prevalence geographical areas were compared with average HIV geographical areas. Results Patients in high HIV areas were more likely to be young and male with higher levels of social deprivation. Incidence rates in men between 2013 and 2017 were higher in high HIV areas than average HIV areas with a rapidly increasing incidence rates in early-stage disease and a 79.1% reduction in incidence of metastatic stage 4 disease. Whereas women in high HIV areas had lower ASCC incidence than the national average and a low incidence of early-stage disease; however, metastatic disease in women had quintupled in incidence in high HIV areas since 2013. Conclusions Patients presenting with ASCC in high HIV geographical areas have different demographics to patients presenting in average HIV geographical areas. This may be related to screening programmes for PLWH in high HIV areas.