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Is There a Proven Link Between Anal Cancer Screening and Reduced Morbidity or Mortality?
- Peter V. Chin-Hong, MD;
- Nancy A. Hessol, MSPH; and
- Joel M. Palefsky, MD
- From University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143.
IN RESPONSE:
We appreciate Dr. Katz and colleagues' comments and their efforts to draw attention to this important issue. They are correct: The incidence of anal cancer is not decreasing. Indeed, published data show that the incidence of invasive anal cancer is increasing in men and women worldwide. In a recent review of 39 population-based registries in the United States between 1998 and 2003, invasive anal cancer increased 2.6% per year on average (1). Using California Cancer Registry data, Cress and Holly (2) used age-adjusted incidence rates from 1973 to 1999 (beginning before the period analyzed by Dr. Katz and colleagues) to show that, among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white men in San Francisco County, age-adjusted rates of invasive anal cancer tripled from 1.5 per 100 000 persons in 1973 to 1978 to 4.5 per 100 000 …
