A recent report on epidemiological trends related to cancer among 54,780 men and women in the USA infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) showed that HIV-infected patients have a much higher risk for many cancers, but a 40 percent lower risk for prostate cancer.
It is suggested that the lower risk for prostate cancer among men infected with HIV may be because men with HIV infections are likely to have lower testosterone levels, and that this could be protective against prostate cancer. However, with the exception of a lowered risk for prostate cancer, the news about risk for cancer more generally among HIV-infected individuals was NOT good. By 2003:
Anal cancer had become 59 times more common among HIV-infected people than in the general population.
Vaginal cancer was 21 times more common.
Hodgkin’s disease was 18 times more common.
Liver cancers were seven times more common.
Lung cancer 3.6 times more common.
The skin cancer melanoma and throat cancer (esophageal cancer) were both three times more common.
Colorectal cancer was 2.4 times more common.
In addition, Kaposi’s sarcoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma have long been associated with people infected by the HIV virus, particularly as their disease progresses to full-blown acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, there has been a decline in the risk for these two diseases as newer HIV treatment regimens have made HIV a more manageable disease and significantly reduced the short-term risk for AIDS.
A recent report on epidemiological trends related to cancer among 54,780 men and women in the USA infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) showed that HIV-infected patients have a much higher risk for many cancers, but a 40 percent lower risk for prostate cancer.
It is suggested that the lower risk for prostate cancer among men infected with HIV may be because men with HIV infections are likely to have lower testosterone levels, and that this could be protective against prostate cancer. However, with the exception of a lowered risk for prostate cancer, the news about risk for cancer more generally among HIV-infected individuals was NOT good. By 2003:
In addition, Kaposi’s sarcoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma have long been associated with people infected by the HIV virus, particularly as their disease progresses to full-blown acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, there has been a decline in the risk for these two diseases as newer HIV treatment regimens have made HIV a more manageable disease and significantly reduced the short-term risk for AIDS.
Filed under: Diagnosis