HIV and Early Treatment Outcomes Among Women With Cervical Cancer Treated With Concurrent Chemoradiation in Tanzania

Cervical cancer (CC) is the leading malignancy in Tanzania. Low-income countries are faced with double epidemics of HIV and CC. This study aimed to investigate how HIV and cancer stage at diagnosis affect early treatment outcomes among women with CC treated with concurrent chemoradiation in Tanzania in the highly active antiretroviral therapy era.

This was a prospective cohort study of patients newly diagnosed with CC at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute from November 2019 to January 2020. The tumor response was assessed using RECIST 3 months post-treatment. The tumor response was categorized as a complete or partial response according to the ultrasound and pelvic examination findings. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression explained the relationship between several covariates (age, stage, HIV status, equivalent dose in 2 Gy fractions, chemotherapy cycles, and treatment time) and treatment response.

A total of 102 patients with CC were included in this study at baseline. After adjusting for other covariates, only completion of treatment within 56 days (odds ratio [OR], 9.23; 95% CI, 1.53 to 55.85; P = .016) and receiving at least three cycles of cisplatin (OR, 5.6; 95% CI, 1.47 to 21.34; P = .012) were significantly associated with complete tumor response. HIV status was not significantly associated with complete tumor response (OR, 1.534; 95% CI, 0.424 to 5.545; P = .5144).

Early treatment response was independent of HIV status. With wide coverage of anitretroviral therapy, patients with HIV can receive radical treatment and have the same early outcomes as their HIV-negative counterparts.