Persons Infected With HIV May (Or May Not) Be At An Increase An Increased Risk Of Cancer

People living with HIV have an increased risk of non-AIDS cancer, according to a report released Tuesday at the American Association for Cancer Research's International conference in Washington, D.C.

Compared with those in the general population, the risk appears to be more than doubled for men and 50% higher for women with HIV, according to Meredith Shiels, MHS, a doctoral candidate at the Johns Hopkins University. But there appears to be little difference in the risk when those with full-blown AIDS and those with controlled HIV infection are compared with the general population, according to Shiels.

While HIV has been known to be associated with three forms of cancer -- Kaposi's sarcoma, cervical cancer, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma -- little is known about the risks of other forms of cancer, (or non HIV cancers) among those infected with the virus. But preliminarly analysis of of 11 studies, mostly from Europe, suggests that those with HIV are at greater risk for developing cancer, when compared to the general population.

Whether those living with HIV place themselves at greater risks of cancer through smoking, drug use or unsafe sexual practices was not factored into the analysis and could in part explain the increased risk of cancer.

And the analysis looks at just 11 studies, which may prove to be too small a pool of data to reach a long term conclusion. But the information gives fuel to doctors to insist their HIV infected patients refrain from life threatening behavior - like smoking, drug use and unsafe sexual practices (which have all been proven to increase the chances for cancer whether a person is HIV Positive or HIV Negative.

The study was supported by the NIH and was presented orally at the conference.