A new study has determined that anal cancer cases and deaths in the US are increasing dramatically, particularly among older people and young black men.
The study, which examined trends in anal cancer cases over about 15 years, discovered around 69,000 cases of anal cancer and over 12,000 deaths in the US during this period.
Lead author Ashish A. Deshmukh, an assistant professor at UTHealth School of Public Health, said: "Our findings of the dramatic rise in incidence among black millennials and white women, rising rates of distant-stage disease, and increases in anal cancer mortality rates are very concerning. Given the historical perception that anal cancer is rare, it is often neglected."
The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, discovered that from 2001 to 2015, cases of the most common type of anal cancer increased by 2.7% annually, while anal cancer death rates went up by 3.1% per year from 2001 to 2016.
Dr. Virginia Shaffer, a colorectal surgeon and associate professor in Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute, pointed out that the study "gives numbers to a trend that seems to be happening over the last decade." Â "In that sense it gives us numbers to what we were already expecting," Shaffer added.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 90% of anal cancer cases are associated with human papillomavirus, known as HPV. This type of cancer occurs where the digestive tract ends and is different from colon or rectal cancer but most similar to cervical cancer.
The researchers argue that the results suggest "broader screening efforts should be considered" but they also believe that the increase in diagnoses isn't likely to be because of an increase in screening practices.
Results show that anal cancer cases have increased significantly in people aged 50 and older but rates are also rising among young black men.
