Cancer in people living with hiv-aids at a referral hospital in Lima, Peru

Abstract

This study was carried out to describe and compare the demographic, clinical, and therapeutic characteristics of HIV patients who developed some cancer. We identified 276 cancer cases diagnosed at Hospital Cayetano Heredia between 2000 and 2018. 80,8% (223/276) had AIDS-defining-cancers (ADCs), being Kaposi's Sarcoma the most frequent type; meanwhile, among non-AIDS-defining-cancers (NADCs), the most frequent was Hodgkin lymphoma. The median age was 36,5 years, being highest among the cases diagnosed with NADCs. Concerning CD4 lymphocyte counts, the median among ADCs was much lower than NADCs, 87,5 cells/µl and 216 cells/µl, respectively. Therefore, NADCs cases have a longer history of HIV infection, and an older age at cancer diagnosis, as well as higher CD4 cells counts.