Cancer risk following lymphoid malignancies among HIV-infected people

HIV-infected people have increased cancer risk. Lymphoma survivors have an increased risk of certain second primary cancers in the general population, but second cancer risk among HIV-infected people is poorly understood. Herein, we characterized the risk of cancers following lymphoid malignancies among HIV-infected people.

Population-based linkage of HIV and cancer registries.

We used data from the US HIV/AIDS Cancer Match Study (1996-2015) and evaluated the risk of first nonlymphoid malignancy in Cox regression models, with first lymphoid malignancy diagnosis as a time-dependent variable.

Among 531 460 HIV-infected people included in our study, 6513 first lymphoid and 18 944 first nonlymphoid malignancies were diagnosed. Risk of nonlymphoid cancer following a lymphoid malignancy was increased overall [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 2.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.3--3.2], and specifically for cancers of the oral cavity (aHR = 2.6; 95% CI = 1.2-5.5), colon (2.4; 1.1-5.0), rectum (3.6; 1.9-6.7), anus (3.6; 2.5-5.1), liver (2.0; 1.2-3.5), lung (1.6; 1.1-2.4), vagina/vulva (6.1; 2.3-16.3), and central nervous system (5.0; 1.6-15.6), Kaposi sarcoma (4.6; 3.4-6.2), and myeloid malignancies (9.7; 6.1-15.4). After additional adjustment for prior AIDS diagnosis and time since HIV diagnosis, aHRs were attenuated overall (aHR = 1.7; 95% CI = 1.5-2.0) and remained significant for cancers of the rectum, anus, and vagina/vulva, Kaposi sarcoma, and myeloid malignancies.

HIV-infected people with lymphoid malignancies have an increased risk of subsequent non-lymphoid cancers. As risks remained significant after adjustment for time since HIV diagnosis and prior AIDS diagnosis, it suggests that immunosuppression may explain some, but not all, of these risks.