Lung, Prostate Cancers Projected to be Most Common Among HIV Patients

Prostate and lung cancers are projected to emerge as the most common types of cancer in the aging HIV population by 2030, according to new study findings.

As a result of several decades of efforts to combat the HIV epidemic, most people living with HIV are able to live as long as those without the disease. Although their compromised immune systems leave them more vulnerable to certain cancer diagnoses, the development and uptake of antiretroviral therapy has reduced the risk of certain cancers, such as cervical cancer, that were previously prevalent.

“The cancer burden among US people living with HIV will continue to evolve as cancer incidence rates go up and the size and demographics of the HIV population change over time,” wrote the authors of the study.

Using the National Cancer Institute’s HIV/AIDS Cancer Match Study, the authors determined cancer incidence for people living with HIV and the most common cancer types among the patient population. They modeled trends in cancer incidence rates from 2000 to 2012 to estimate rates for 2013 to 2030 and used the HIV Optimization and Prevention Economics Model to estimate the number of people living with HIV through 2030.

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