anal warts ***COULD*** lead to anal cancer. Talk to your HIV doctor about the warts, and they will get you scheduled with a doctor who will remove them. Depending how bad they are, they can freeze them off if they aren't too bad, or, they will need to be surgically removed in the hospital. Then, you will need to keep up on Colonoscopies.

Just have them checked out by a urologist.

If not already seeing a healthcare professional about them, I would prioritise getting assessment and treatment. This would enable me to then also ask about future risks, and get advice. Warts are treatable, so hopefully that can all be sorted.

In the UK, they are giving men who have sex with men HPV vaccines (I think up to the age of 45). This offers some protection against the most common HPV types known to cause anal, penile, mouth and other cancers.

I had 3 vaccine shots when I was about 43 via my HIV clinic. It was Guardasil 4 (protects against the 4 most common HPV strains known to cause cancer). The clinic were vaccinating regardless of past infection with warts.

There is also Guardasil 9 (protects against the 9 most common HPV types know to cause cancer), but this is only available privately in the UK. I think it costs around £185 per shot.

I think there is also a bi-valent vaccine that protects against 2 strains, although I don’t think it’s available in the UK.

The vaccines can also be used by women. Nowadays here in the UK, they also vaccinate school age children around the age of 12-13, because of the strong evidence base for its effectiveness.

Hope you get treated successfully and the docs put your mind at rest.