AIDS Patients Face Higher Risk of HPV-Related Cancers As Immunosuppression Grows

Extract

Risk of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers is greater for people living with AIDS and increases with increasing immunosuppression, according to a new study published online July 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute .

Although the risk of HPV-associated cancers is known to be higher among people with AIDS, the extent to which HIV-related immunosuppression plays a role is unclear.

Anil K. Chaturvedi, Ph.D., of the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch at the National Cancer Institute, in Rockville, Md., and colleagues used data from a cancer registry for almost 500,000 persons diagnosed with AIDS between 1980 and 2004 to estimate risks for HPV-associated cancers. These include cancers of the anus, cervix, oropharynx, penis, vagina, and vulva. The researchers also evaluated the relationship between immunosuppression and incidence of these cancers by counting CD4 T-cells at AIDS onset. Incidence was compared across three periods (1980–1989, 1990–1995, and 1996–2004).

People with AIDS had a statistically significant higher risk for all HPV-associated cancers. From 1996 (when highly active antiretroviral therapy was introduced) through 2004, a low CD4 T-cell count was associated with an increased risk of invasive anal cancer among men. This risk was higher in 1996–2004 than in 1990–1995. Both increases in risk were statistically significant.