Anal cancer rates rising most among older, white and Hispanic women, suggests study

Anal cancer has been steadily increasing in the United States, with the biggest jumps among older women, especially white and Hispanic women-a shift that challenges assumptions about high-risk groups and who should be screened, according to a study to be presented today at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2025.

“Rates of anal cancer are rising fastest among white and Hispanic women over 65-groups not traditionally considered high risk,” said lead author Ashley Robinson, MD, a second-year internal medicine resident at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. “While the exact reasons behind this trend remain unclear, most older women were beyond the recommended age for human papillomavirus vaccination when it first became widely available.”

Human papillomavirus, known as HPV, causes 90% of anal cancers.

Researchers analyzed data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, known as SEER, from 2017 to 2021. They found anal cancer increased by 2.9% for women and 1.6% for men. Anal cancers increased fastest among white women over 65, who saw a 4.3% increase during the five-year study period, reaching 11.4 cases per 100,000 in 2021. If the trend continues, the incidence of anal cancer in women over age 65 would double in less than 17 years.