From HIV/AIDS to HIV Cancer: An Analysis of Transition from HIV Infection to Cancer Amongst Patients in Cameroon

A total of 288 cases of HIV cancers were retained among 3785 HIV infected patients in this retrospective multi-centre pilot study that lasted 18 months between 1 st January 2013 and June 30 2014 in Cameroon. This gave a cancer prevalence among HIV infected patients of 7.6%.The study was aimed at looking at the transition time between HIV infection to development of cancer amongst patients. Data on cancer and HIV infection of patients with both diseases in the randomly selected pilot centres were retrieved, assembled and analyzed.The mean age of patients was 44.1years with 30% of them aged between 30-39 years. HIV malignancies occurred predominantly in females (71%). 45.5% of the patients had AIDS-Defining Cancers against 47.6% Non-AIDS-Defining Cancers. Kaposi sarcoma was the commonest cancer, accounting for 50.4% of all AIDS-defining cancers; while breast cancer was the most prevalent non-AIDS-defining cancer, contributing to 32.8% of all cancers in this group. Diagnosis of cancers in these patients (100%) was all made after the diagnosis of HIV at a mean time interval of 3.6 years. Most cancers (16.7%) were diagnosed within 1 year of HIV infection, at CD4 counts between 300-399cells/µL in females, which was significantly different from CD4 counts ˂100cells/µL in males. HIV serotyping showed a predominance of HIV I (67.7%). There was no sex predilection for any HIV serotype, similarly, there was no association between a particular HIV serotype and cancer type. HIV malignancies are not rare in Cameroon. Though the prevalence of the infection in the entire nation has tipped off in recent years, it is likely that more malignancies would be detected in future amongst HIV/AIDS patients due to prolonged survival as a consequence of increased availability of Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART). Knowledge of the transition time between HIV infection and the apparition of cancer is a vital tool for comprehensive management of these patients that could improve on the outcome of both diseases. Further in-depth studies to document incidence and trends of HIV malignancies in our community are recommended.