There is a mixed bag of news when it comes to HIV associated cancers. While the instances of AIDS-defining cancers, or the cancers typically associated with AIDS progression: Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and invasive cervical cancer, have decreased, instances of other types of cancers in HIV infected patients has increased, resulting in a virtual offset. Nonetheless, progress has been made when it comes to longevity in HIV patients. Highly active antiretroviral therapy has improved quality of life for HIV-infected patients, including lengthening life expectancy and reducing the risk of AIDS progression. While this is good news, what isn’t good news is the noticeable increase in other types of cancers.
Between 1991 and 1995, about 34,000 cases of AIDS-defining cancers were present in HIV-infected patients; this number dropped to around 10,000 ten years later (between 2001 and 2005). This is a positive indication of the antiretroviral medication working and helping to delay the progression from HIV to AIDS. However, the instances of other cancers skyrocketed. About 3,000 cases of other cancers were found in HIV patients from 1991 to 1995; that number jumped to 10,000 cases ten years later. Since 2003, the number of non-AIDS-defining cancers has exceeded the number of AIDS-defining and HIV associated cancers. While some of this can be attributed to the general aging of the population, it doesn’t explain it entirely. Continue reading ‘HIV Associated Cancers’ »