Trial reportSexually transmitted infections2018
A phase II clinical study to assess the feasibility of self and partner anal examinations to detect anal canal abnormalities including anal cancer.
Trial report in Sexually transmitted infections, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- German-Austrian guideline on screening for anal dysplasia and anal carcinoma in people living with HIV.Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft = Journal of the German Society of Dermatology : JDDG · 2025Guideline
- Barriers and facilitators to anal cancer screening among men who have sex with men: a systematic review with narrative synthesis.BMC cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Digital Anorectal Examination to Self-detect Primary Syphilis: A Prospective Cohort Study.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026Article
- The longitudinal effect of repetition and practice on the accuracy of lay anal examinations for detecting perianal and anal canal abnormalities: a prospective study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of HPV vaccination of men who have sex with men in Germany.Infection · 2025Article
- Anal Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions: A Primer for Gastroenterologists.Current gastroenterology reports · 2025Review
- Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV Vaccination Completion Rates Among Gay and Bisexual Men in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Venereology (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Men who have sex with men experience low anxiety and few barriers to performing anal self or companion examinations: a qualitative study of the Prevent Anal Cancer Palpation Study.Culture, health & sexuality · 2024Article
- The accuracy of anal self- and companion exams among sexual minority men and transgender women: a prospective analysis.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2024Article
- Cancer screening in people living with HIV.Cancer medicine · 2023Review
- A cross-sectional survey on attitudes of men who have sex with men towards anal self-examination for detection of anal syphilis.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Preferences of men who have sex with men for performing anal self-examination for the detection of anal syphilis in Australia: A discrete choice experiment.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2022Article
- Adherence to weekly anal self-examination among men who have sex with men for detection of anal syphilis.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
- Prevention and Screening of HPV Malignancies.Seminars in radiation oncology · 2021Review
- Exploring the attitudes of men who have sex with men on anal self-examination for early detection of primary anorectal syphilis: a qualitative study.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Article
- Anal Cancer Screening for HIV-Negative Men Who Have Sex with Men: Making Clinical Decisions with Limited Data.LGBT health · 2021Article
- Anal Cancer and Anal Cancer Screening Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceived Risk Among Women Living With HIV.Journal of lower genital tract disease · 2021Article
- Do we really need guidelines for HRA during the COVID-19 pandemic?Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland · 2020Article
- Factors associated with self-reported anal cancer screening history in men who have sex with men.Sexual health · 2019Article
- Incorporating digital anorectal examinations for anal cancer screening into routine HIV care for men who have sex with men living with HIV: a prospective cohort study.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveAnal cancer is a common cancer among men who have sex with men (MSM); however, there is no standard screening protocol for anal cancer. We conducted a phase II clinical trial to assess the feasibility of teaching MSM to recognise palpable masses in the anal canal which is a common sign of anal cancer in men.
methodsA clinician skilled in performing digital anorectal examinations (DARE) used a pelvic manikin to train 200 MSM, aged 27-78 years, how to do a self-anal examination (SAE) for singles or a partner anal examination (PAE) for couples. The clinician then performed a DARE without immediately disclosing results, after which the man or couple performed an SAE or PAE, respectively. Percentage agreement with the clinician DARE in addition to sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated for the SAE, PAE and overall.
resultsMen had a median age of 52 years, 42.5% were African American and 60.5% were HIV positive. DARE detected abnormalities in 12 men while the men's SAE/PAEs detected 9 of these. A total of 93.0% of men classified the health of their anal canal correctly (95% CI 89.5 to 96.5). Overall percentage agreement, sensitivity and specificity were 93.0%, 75.0% and 94.2%, respectively, while PPV and NPV were 45.0% and 98.3%, respectively. The six men who detected the abnormality had nodules/masses ≥3 mm in size. More than half of men (60.5%) reported never checking their anus for an abnormality; however, after performing an SAE/PAE, 93.0% said they would repeat it in the future.
conclusionThese results suggest that tumours of ≥3 mm may be detectable by self or partner palpation among MSM and encourage further investigation given literature suggesting a high cure rate for anal cancer tumours ≤10 mm.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.