Abstract 22: Screening and Treatment of Female Sex Workers for Cervical Precancers in Cameroon

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Abstract Purpose: To prevent cervical cancer among female sex workers (FSWs) who are at high risk of acquiring HPV infections (through occupational exposure) that may progress to invasive cervical cancer (ICC) if not treated. Methods: With funding from a Prevent Cancer Foundation grant and in collaboration with Horizons Femmes, an NGO that provides services to FSWs, the Women's Health Program (WHP) of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services screened FSWs in three large Cameroonian cities with visual inspection with acetic acid and Lugol's iodine (VIA/VILI) enhanced by digital cervicography (DC) and collected vaginal specimens from FSWs aged 30+ years for AmpFire HPV genotyping. Results: Of the 757 FSWs who were screened in August 2020, 510 (67.4%) were aged 30 or over, 308 (60.4%) had one or more high risk HPV types and 47(9.2%) had positive VIA/VILI-DC (34 with ablative eligible lesions and 13 with LEEP eligible lesions). Of the women less than age 30, 27(10.9%) had positive VIA/VILI-DC (92.6% with ablative and 7.4% LEEP eligible lesions). Of the 74 women with ablative and LEEP eligible lesions, 38 (64.4%) and 8 (53.3%) respectively were treated. Of 272 women aged 30+years who were HPV positive but DC negative, 61 (22.4%) were treated with thermal ablation. The WHP continues to follow up on FSWs who need treatment and is analyzing HPV genotypes' frequency and their relation to the VIA/VILI-DC results. Conclusions: With appropriate education and support, FSWs can be screened for cervical cancer and a high proportion of those with positive screening tests can be appropriately treated to reduce their risk of ICC. Citation Format: Simon Manga, Kathleen Nulah, Florence Manjuh, Joel Fokom, Denisse Ngatchou, Edith Welty, Sanjay Shete, Margaret Liang, Thomas Welty. Screening and Treatment of Female Sex Workers for Cervical Precancers in Cameroon [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 9th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research; Global Cancer Research and Control: Looking Back and Charting a Path Forward; 2021 Mar 10-11. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2021;30(7 Suppl):Abstract nr 22.