Clinical presentation and outcome of non-AIDS defining cancers, in HIV-infected patients in the ART-era: the Italian Cooperative Group on AIDS and tumors activity

M. Berretta, F. Martellotta, R. Di Francia, M. Spina, E. Vaccher, L. Balestreri, E. Borsatti, A. Bearz, P. De Paoli, U. Tirelli

Division of Medical Oncology A, National Cancer Institute of Aviano, Aviano (PN), Italy. mberretta@cro.it

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• Oncology

The advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has markedly extended the survival rates of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), leading to suppression even though not eradication of HIV. In HIV infected patients, cancer has become a growing problem, representing the first cause of death. A large number of worldwide studies have shown that HIV infection raises the risk of many non-AIDS defining cancers (NADCs), including squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA), testis cancer, lung cancer, cancer of the colon and rectum (CRC), skin (basal cell skin carcinoma and melanoma), Hodgkin disease (HD) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Generally in HIV positive patients NADCs are more aggressive and in advanced stage disease than in the general population. In the ART era, however, the outcome of HIV positive patients is more similar as in the general population. Only about lung cancer the outcome seems different between HIV positive and HIV negative patients.

The aim of this article is to provide an up-date on NADCs within the activity of the Italian Cooperative Group on AIDS and Tumors (GICAT) to identify clinical prognostic and predicting factors in patients with HIV infection included in the GICAT.

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