Many HIV-Positive MSM Also Have This Type of HPV
Human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) is common among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) and may be a useful determinant of anal cancer risk, a new study showed.
In the APACHES multicenter prospective study, the researchers evaluated 490 HIV-positive MSM aged 35 years and older. At baseline, anal swabs were collected, and participants underwent cytology and high-resolution anoscopy. Cobas 4800 was used to test for high-risk HPV, and diagnoses of high-risk HPV were genotyped via PapilloCheck.
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HPV16 and high-risk HPV were present in 29% and 70% of participants, respectively. The prevalence of each was not significantly affected by factors such as age, sexual behavior, or markers of HIV or immune deficiency. The researchers found smoking to be a weak predictor of high-risk HPV.
The prevalence of high-risk HPV and HPV16 was strongly associated with severity of anal diagnosis. The researchers noted that HPV16 had increased from 19% among participants with negative, to 63% in high-grade lesions. However, they also observed that non-16 high-risk HPVs were less prevalent in high-grade vs negative composite diagnosis (37% vs 64%), with their causal attribution further challenged by multiple HPV infections.
“HPV16 is ubiquitously frequent among HIV-positive MSM and strongly associated with detection of high-grade anal lesions, representing a potentially useful marker of anal cancer risk,” the researchers concluded.
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
Combes JD, Heard I, Poizot-Martin I, et al. Prevalence and risk factors for anal human papillomavirus infection in HIV-positive men having sex with men [Published online January 31, 2018]. J Infect Dis. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiy059.