AIN2 /AIN3 , Awaiting biopsies results-is this the right place to ask advice ?

Hello Sarahspirals 

I am sorry that you have firstly, had to find yourself here, and secondly that your experience when you went for private investigation was so awful - I hope you didn't hold back giving feedback.  And I am pleased that the NHS has picked up the reins.  I think most of us who have had any investigation in the back passage have had pain afterwards, some much more than others, and I think that the continuing pain is because of the 'traffic' in the anal canal which there isn't anything you do about.

I am afraid I don't know anything about Ain2 or 3, but there are quite a few forum members who have had similar investigations and I am hoping that they will pick up on your post and be able to help more than I can.

In the meantime, it sounds as if your NHS team are really looking after you and I really hope you have good results.  Please update us when you have some news.

Big hug

Irene xx

Thankyou so much for this Irene, your compassion means alot and thankyou for taking the time to reply , all the very best , xx

Hi Sarahspirals , another warm welcome from me although I’m sorry that you’ve had the need to find us, I’m also sorry to hear that you’ve suffered such trauma in your journey so far! 

As with Irene I don’t profess to know much about a diagnosis of AIN, we have had a couple of people that have started with a similar diagnosis to yourself but they’ve not been regular visitors to the forum so I couldn’t tell you how they’ve got along unfortunately. Hopefully someone will see your post that has a better understanding of your diagnosis.

It’s such a difficult time waiting for results etc., your mind naturally goes to the worst case scenario, I think we’ve all been there. Hopefully you won’t have to wait too much longer, I’ve everything crossed for good results & don’t be afraid to chase things up. 

Nicola 

Hi Sarahspirals,

I’d like to share my experience, although I’m in Prague, Czech Republic, so the healthcare system may be different from yours.

After spending an entire summer dealing with pain and bleeding during bowel movements, I finally paid for a private appointment with a proctologist. Like many people, I assumed it was probably hemorrhoids or an anal fissure. She referred me for a colonoscopy at a private clinic, as the waiting time through the public system would have been several months.

During the colonoscopy, a few small polyps were removed, and the painful lump in my anal canal was initially diagnosed as AIN3, HPV16-positive. A biopsy was taken, and a week later I was told it was not cancer and could be removed at the clinic under local anesthesia. However, I was in severe pain and insisted on being referred to a hospital instead.

At the hospital, they performed an anoscopy and took another biopsy. This time, the results came back positive for cancer. Apparently, the first biopsy from the private clinic had been inconclusive because the sample taken was insufficient. So in my case, I was initially misdiagnosed, but every case is different, and I truly hope yours turns out to be the opposite—that the lesion remains AIN2 or AIN3 and is not cancer.

Three years before all of this, I was diagnosed with a CIN2 lesion on my cervix, which was removed successfully, and everything has been fine since then. HPV-related lesions do not always progress to cancer, and many are treated successfully.

Following my diagnosis, I had an MRI and a PET-CT scan. After about a month of uncertainty, intense pain, and losing more than 7 kg, I was diagnosed with T2N0M0 anal cancer. This all happened last year, starting in September 2025.

As a single mom to an 11-year-old daughter, I was absolutely terrified. What I learned, though, is that anal cancer is generally not a fast-growing or highly aggressive cancer, and when caught early, treatment with chemoradiation has a very high success rate.

I completed my chemoradiation treatment at the beginning of December, and my 3-month follow-up MRI showed a complete regression of the tumor.

I also want to mention the pain, because it was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I was prescribed fentanyl patches and tablets, morphine, and methadone. Please don’t be afraid to ask for adequate pain relief. This is already a difficult and exhausting journey, and there is no reason to suffer unnecessarily. If opioid-induced constipation becomes an issue, there is a medication called naloxegol that can help counteract that side effect.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that you receive good news and that your biopsy confirms it is “only” AIN2 or AIN3. Waiting for answers is one of the hardest parts, but try not to lose hope. I’m sending you lots of courage and a big hug. This forum helped me tremendously during and after treatment, especially at times when I felt completely alone. You are not alone in this.

 xx

Thankyou Vicky for Takoma the time to respond to me and give me so much detail and advice.

I'm so sorry you've had to endure so much and with so much uncertainty whilst being a mother. I am still yet to receive any results over 4 weeks later.

It's all so scary. Thankyou for reassuring that I should advocate for better pain relief on future , it was very difficult to cope.

I have had 2 children naturally both with episiotomy and with both I recovered with just paracetamol and ibuprofen but this was something else.

Big hugs to you in Prague xx