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Observational Study
. 2022 Feb;207(2):324-332.
doi: 10.1097/JU.0000000000002249. Epub 2021 Sep 24.

Prostate Cancer Screening and Incidence among Aging Persons Living with HIV

Michael S Leapman  1   2 , Kimberly Stone  3 , Roxanne Wadia  1   2 , Lesley S Park  4 , Cynthia L Gibert  5   6 , Matthew B Goetz  7   8 , Roger Bedimo  9 , Maria Rodriguez-Barradas  10 , Fatma Shebl  1 , Amy C Justice  2 , Sheldon T Brown  4   11 , Kristina Crothers  12 , Keith M Sigel  3
Affiliations
Observational Study

Prostate Cancer Screening and Incidence among Aging Persons Living with HIV

Michael S Leapman et al. J Urol. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: The risk of prostate cancer among persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH) is not well understood and may be obscured by different opportunities for detection.

Materials and methods: We identified 123,472 (37,819 PWH and 85,653 comparators) men enrolled in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, a prospective national cohort of PWH and demographically matched, uninfected comparators in 2000-2015. We calculated rates of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status and fit multivariable Poisson models comparing the rates of PSA testing, prostate biopsy, and cancer incidence.

Results: The mean age at enrollment was 52 years. Rates of PSA testing were lower in PWH versus uninfected comparators (0.58 versus 0.63 tests per person-year). Adjusted rates of PSA screening and prostate biopsy were lower among PWH (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 0.87, 95% CI 0.75-0.84 and IRR 0.79 95% CI 0.74-0.83, respectively). The crude IRR for prostate cancer was lower in PWH versus controls (IRR 0.90, 95% CI 0.83-0.97). However, in a multivariable model adjusting for PSA testing, cancer incidence was similar by HIV status (IRR=0.93, 95% CI 0.86-1.01, p=0.08). Among patients who received a prostate biopsy, incidence of prostate cancer did not differ significantly by HIV status (IRR 1.06, 95% CI 0.98-1.15, p=0.15). Among incident cancers, there were significant differences in the distributions of Gleason grade (p=0.05), but not cancer stage (p=0.14) by HIV status.

Conclusions: When accounting for less PSA testing among PWH, the incidence of prostate cancer was similar by HIV status. These findings suggest that less screening contributed to lower observed incidence of prostate cancer in PWH.

Keywords: HIV; prostate-specific antigen; prostatic neoplasms; veterans.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Study schema Abbreviations: VACS=Veterans Aging Cohort Study; PSA=prostate-specific antigen; HIV=Human immunodeficiency virus; VA=Veterans Affairs
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Proportion of patients enrolled in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study receiving PSA testing by HIV status Abbreviations: PSA=prostate-specific antigen; HIV=Human immunodeficiency virus
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • Editorial Comment.
    Feng X, Zahed H, Robbins HA. Feng X, et al. J Urol. 2022 Feb;207(2):332. doi: 10.1097/JU.0000000000002249.01. Epub 2021 Nov 16. J Urol. 2022. PMID: 34781695 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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