Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Aug-Oct;46(4-5):334-340.
doi: 10.1053/j.seminoncol.2019.09.007. Epub 2019 Oct 28.

HIV and cancer in the Veterans Health Administration System

Keith Sigel  1 , Lesley Park  2 , Amy Justice  3
Affiliations
Review

HIV and cancer in the Veterans Health Administration System

Keith Sigel et al. Semin Oncol. 2019 Aug-Oct.

Abstract

Cancer is a leading cause of death for people with HIV (PWH). The Veterans Healthcare System (VA) is the largest single institutional provider of HIV care in the United States. Cancer among Veterans with HIV is major issue and clinical research has expanded significantly during the antiretroviral therapy (ART) era providing numerous insights regarding cancer incidence, risk factors, prevention, treatment and outcomes for this unique group of patients. This work has been greatly facilitated by the availability of national VA data sources. Notably, patterns of cancer incidence have changed for Veterans with HIV during the ART era; non-AIDS defining malignancies now are the most common tumors. Despite better HIV control in the ART era, immunosuppression measured by low CD4 counts and HIV viremia have been associated with increased cancer risk. Cancer outcomes for Veterans with HIV may now be similar to uninfected Veterans, but information on outcomes and cancer treatment patterns remains limited, requiring further study to help inform prevention and treatment strategies.

Keywords: Anti-retroviral era; Cancer; HIV; Non-AIDS defining cancers; Veterans Affairs Health System.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Number of Pubmed Indexed Publications Related to HIV/Cancer Among Veterans by Year
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Incidence rates for specific cancers in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study by cancer type and HIV status during 1997–2000 and 2009–2012.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Centers for Disease C. Kaposi’s sarcoma and Pneumocystis pneumonia among homosexual men--New York City and California. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1981;30(25):305–8. - PubMed
    1. Shiels MS, Engels EA. Evolving epidemiology of HIV-associated malignancies. Curr Opin HIV AIDS. 2017;12(1):6–11. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Simard EP, Engels EA. Cancer as a cause of death among people with AIDS in the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2010;51(8):957–62. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Smith CJ, Ryom L, Weber R, Morlat P, Pradier C, Reiss P, et al. Trends in underlying causes of death in people with HIV from 1999 to 2011 (D:A:D): a multicohort collaboration. Lancet. 2014;384(9939):241–8. - PubMed
    1. Park LS, Hernandez-Ramirez RU, Silverberg MJ, Crothers K, Dubrow R. Prevalence of non-HIV cancer risk factors in persons living with HIV/AIDS: a meta-analysis. AIDS. 2016;30(2):273–91. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types