Which treatment will I get?
You and your doctor will decide together which treatment to use based on
- Size of HSIL
- Location of HSIL
- Your preferences or ability to tolerate the treatment
What are the treatments for HSIL?
Treatment of HSIL usually requires more than one visit. HSIL often comes back in the same or new location. If one approach to treatment is not working, another treatment may be tried.
There are three approaches to treatment in the ANCHOR study.HEAT IS APPLIED TO THE HSIL
Using an anoscope and a camera to see inside the anal canal, vinegar is swabbed on the skin to make the HSIL show up as white. The area to be treated is numbed with a numbing jelly followed by an injection of lidocaine. Heat is applied to the HSIL for a split second to the lesion using either- a machine called an "infra-red coagulator" (IRC) which uses a quartz wand to apply heat to the lesion or
- "Electrocautery" which uses a thin loop of wire as an electric scalpel to burn off the lesion
CREAM IS APPLIED TO THE LESION
You will apply Imiquimod or 5-fluorouracil cream to your anus at bedtime every night for several weeks using your gloved finger.
SURGERY
Surgery is rarely used except in cases where the HSIL is spread over a large area or will not respond to the other treatments.
What are the side effects of treatment?
Pain at site of biopsy and heat treatment. Bleeding may last up to a week but is a normal part of the healing process. Pain may be worst when going to bathroom. Drinking lots of water, stool softeners, sitz baths and tylenol can all help with pain when going to the bathroom. When using the Imiquimod and 5-FU creams, you will get a rash as these creams act like a chemical peel of the anal skin. You may need to take a day off work. Surgery may require several days off work as you recover from the effects of the anesthesia and the surgery. You will need to take a few weeks off from anal sex.
Why compare treatment to monitoring?
We don't know if treating HSIL actually prevents anal cancer. The ANCHOR study is designed to answer this question by comparing treatment of HSIL against active monitoring of HSIL with no treatment. Unlike many trials that compare the effectiveness of two or more treatments, the ANCHOR Study is simply comparing treatment vs. no treatment. This means that if you are randomized to the treatment arm, you may get one or a combination of treatments for HSIL, similar to what you would receive outside the study.