Cancer Incidence and Cancer Screening Practices Among a Cohort of Persons Receiving HIV Care in Washington, DC

In this era of effective combination antiretroviral therapy the incidence of AIDS defining cancers (ADCs) is projected to decline while the incidence of certain non-AIDS defining cancers (NADCs) increases. Some of these NADCs are potentially preventable with appropriate cancer screening. We examined cancer incidence, screening eligibility, and receipt of screening among persons actively enrolled in the DC Cohort, a longitudinal observational cohort of PLWH, between 2011 and 2017. Cancer screening eligibility was determined based on age, sex, smoking history and co-morbidity data available and published national guidelines. The incidence rate of NADCs was 12.1 (95% CI 10.7, 13.8) and ADCs 1.6 (95% CI 0.6, 4.6) per 1000 person-years. The most common incident NADCs were breast 2.6 (95% CI 0.5,1 2.1), prostate 2.3 (95% CI 1.2, 4.3), and non-melanoma skin 1.2 (95% CI 0.6, 2.3) incident diagnoses/cases per 1000 person-years. Among cohort sites where receipt of cancer screening was assessed, less than 60% of eligible participants had any ascertained anal HPV, breast, cervical, colorectal, hepatocellular carcinoma, or lung cancer screening. In this cohort of PLWH, there were more incident NADCs versus ADCs in contrast to earlier cohort studies where ADCs predominated. Despite a large eligible population there were low rates of screening. Implementation of cancer screening is an important component of care among PLWH.

HIV and cancer in the Veterans Health Administration System

Cancer is a leading cause of death for people with HIV (PWH). The Veterans Healthcare System (VA) is the largest single institutional provider of HIV care in the United States. Cancer among Veterans with HIV is major issue and clinical research has expanded significantly during the antiretroviral therapy (ART) era providing numerous insights regarding cancer incidence, risk factors, prevention, treatment and outcomes for this unique group of patients. This work has been greatly facilitated by the availability of national VA data sources. Notably, patterns of cancer incidence have changed for Veterans with HIV during the ART era; non-AIDS defining malignancies now are the most common tumors. Despite better HIV control in the ART era, immunosuppression measured by low CD4 counts and HIV viremia have been associated with increased cancer risk. Cancer outcomes for Veterans with HIV may now be similar to uninfected Veterans, but information on outcomes and cancer treatment patterns remains limited, requiring further study to help inform prevention and treatment strategies.

A case-control study of non-AIDS-defining cancers in a prospective cohort of HIV-infected patients

INTRODUCTION

We present a case-control study of non-AIDS-defining cancers (NADCs) in a cohort of HIV-infected patients where we value the incidence, survival and prognostic factors of mortality.

METHODS

All NADCs diagnosis conducted from 2007 to 2011 in 7 hospitals were collected prospectively, with a subsequent follow up until December 2013. A control group of 221 HIV patients without a diagnosis of cancer was randomly selected.

RESULTS

Two hundred and twenty-one NADCs were diagnosed in an initial cohort of 7,067 HIV-infected patients. The most common were: hepatocellular carcinoma 20.5%, lung 18.7%, head and neck 11.9% and anal 10.5%. The incidence rate of NADCs development was 7.84/1,000 people-year. In addition to aging and smoking, time on ART (OR 1.11; 95% CI 1.05-1.17) and PI use (OR 1.72; 95% CI 1.0-2.96) increased the risk of developing a NADC. During follow-up 53.42% died, with a median survival time of 199.5 days. In the analysis of the prognostic factors of mortality the low values of CD4 at tumour diagnosis (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.99-1.0; P=.033), and the previous diagnosis of AIDS (OR 2.06; 95% CI 1.08-3.92) were associated with higher mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Predictors of NADCs in our cohort were age, smoking, CD4 lymphocytes and time on ART. Mortality is high, with NADC risk factors being low CD4 count and previous diagnosis of AIDS.