• 4/3/2007
  • web-based article
  • staff
  • CancerConsultants.com

Researchers in Sweden have reported that women with grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasm (CIN) related to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection are also at increased risk for the development of cancer of the vagina, vulva and anus. The details of this study appeared in the April, 2007 issue of Lancet Oncology.[1]

Human papilloma viruses are probably the sole cause of cancers of the cervix and have been associated with cancers of the anogenital tract in homosexual men. Epidemiologic and molecular biology studies have also suggested that HPV infection may be associated with cancers of the head and neck.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between HPV related cervical CIN and other anogenital cancers. The main impetus of this study was to determine the possible effects of the newly available HPV vaccine on cancers other than cervical. These authors compared the incidence of cancer of the vagina, vulva and anus in women with CIN to those without CIN. This data base included all women in Sweden aged 18-50 in the years 1968 to 2004. These authors reported that women with grade 3 CIN had a 6.7 fold increase in the incidence of cancer of the vagina, 2.2 fold increased incidence of cancer of the vulva and a 4.68 fold increase in the incidence of anal cancer. They did not find an increased incidence of rectal cancer. They found that the increased incidence of these malignancies was age dependent and increased with time from the original diagnosis of CIN.

In an accompanying editiorial it was stated that “Hopefully, the protection offered by this vaccine (HPV vaccine) against cervical cancer might also be seen against the development of vulvar, vaginal, and anal cancers.”[2]

Comments: The same observations about the possible effects of HPV vaccination can be made about cancers of the head and neck. Thus, it would appear that the HPV vaccine has the potential of preventing a variety of HPV related malignancies.

References:

[1] Edgren G, Sparen P. Risk of anogenital cancer after diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: A prospective population-based study. Lancet Oncology 2007;8:311-316.

[2] Daling JR. Reflection and Reaction. Risk of anogenital cancer in women with CIN. Lancet Oncology 2007;8:281-282.