Malignancies in HIV: the Indian scenario

India has the second largest number of HIV/AIDS patients in the world; however, studies done in the area of HIV-related malignancies are few. With the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy and treatment and prevention of opportunistic infections, an increase in life expectancy of HIV-infected individuals and an increase in HIV-related malignancies is expected. The purpose of this review is to put forth the Indian scenario of HIV-related malignancies.

About 2.5 million Indians have HIV/AIDS. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and cervical cancer were found to occur in a higher proportion among the HIV-infected individuals in India as compared with non-HIV-infected individuals. The incidence of AIDS-related primary central nervous system lymphoma is low in India. Kaposi's sarcoma is rare in India. Amongst the non-AIDS defining cancers anal cancer, testicular cancer, Hodgkin's disease, colon cancer and certain head and neck cancer sites in men and vaginal cancers among women were found to occur more frequently.

With the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy an increased mortality and morbidity due to neoplastic diseases is expected in the future. As India is a large country and geographically and culturally diverse, large-scale studies need to be done linking the regional cancer centres with the AIDS centres across the country to evaluate the exact burden of HIV-related malignancies.