HIV Symptoms & Cure: HIV Patients Face Higher Risk Of Certain Cancers

People diagnosed with HIV have been able to extend their lives because of antiretroviral therapy but a new study says surviving HIV puts one at a higher risk of contracting cancers. 

Health Day reported (via WebMD) that the study included over 90,000 HIV patients revealed there was an increase in three types of cancer, namely anal, colorectal and liver cancer specifically because of the longer lives HIV-infected people are now enjoying, said the study's lead author Michael Silverberg of the Kaiser Permanente division of research in Oakland, Calif.

He adds that these patients "have a higher burden of cancer compared with the general population due to impaired immune function and chronic inflammation, as well as a higher prevalence of risk factors including smoking and viral co-infections."

The study looked at about 87,000 620 HIV-infected and 197,000 uninfected adults from the US and Canada who participated in the North American Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design (NA-ACCORD)  study between followed between the years of 1996 and 2009. The group tallied total cancer risk until the age of 75. 

The publication noted that nine types of cancer were tracked, which included Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer,anal cancer, colon/rectal cancer, liver cancer, oral cavity/pharyngeal cancer and melanoma. It was found that when compared with non-HIV participants, cancer rates were higher for HIV patients actors all nine types of cancers within all of the years examined. 

In addition, (via PR News Wire) Silverberg's co-author Richard D. Moore, MD, MHS, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and overall principal investigator of the NA-ACCORD said that the analysis offers more information about the association of HIV and long-term cancer risks. They hope the findings will contribute to public and clinical efforts to achieve the biggest impacts.

Over time, as treatments and therapies find more success, the HIV-infected population continues to age, notes Silverberg. "Factors such as CD4 count, smoking, alcohol consumption, and HBV or HCV infection, could more accurately inform patients and providers about risk and further target prevention efforts," added the research author. 

The authors note that their work outlining the risks for the different types of cancers could aid prevention efforts. Per co-author Dr. Michael Horberg, it's not enough for patients to survive, it's important that they survive and live well. 

The large study was published in the Oct. 6 issue of "Annals of Internal Medicine" and was funded primarily by grants from the National Institute of Health.