Cancer burden among HIV-positive persons in Nigeria: preliminary findings from the Nigerian AIDS-cancer match study

BACKGROUND: Although Nigeria has a large HIV epidemic, the impact of HIV on cancer in Nigerians is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a registry linkage study using a probabilistic matching algorithm among a cohort of HIV positive persons registered at health facilities where the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) provides HIV prevention and treatment services. Their data was linked to data from 2009 to 2012 in the Abuja Cancer Registry. Match compatible files with first name, last name, sex, date of birth and unique HIV cohort identification numbers were provided by each registry and used for the linkage analysis. We describe demographic characteristics of the HIV clients and compute Standardized Incidence Ratios (SIRs) to evaluate the association of various cancers with HIV infection. RESULTS: Between 2005 and 2012, 17,826 persons living with HIV (PLWA) were registered at IHVN. Their median age (Interquartile range (IQR)) was 33 (27–40) years; 41% (7246/17826) were men and 59% (10580/17826) were women. From 2009 to 2012, 2,029 clients with invasive cancers were registered at the Abuja Cancer Registry. The median age (IQR) of the cancer clients was 45 (35–68) years. Among PLWA, 39 cancer cases were identified, 69% (27/39) were incident cancers and 31% (12/39) were prevalent cancers. The SIR (95% CI) for the AIDS Defining Cancers were 5.7 (4.1, 7.2) and 2.0 (0.4, 3.5), for Kaposi Sarcoma and Cervical Cancer respectively. CONCLUSION: The risk of Kaposi Sarcoma but not Cervical Cancer or Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, was significantly increased among HIV positive persons, compared to the general population in Nigeria.