Cancer disparities in people with human immunodeficiency virus: A systematic review of screening for non‐AIDS–defining malignancies

Background

People with the human immunodeficiency virus (PWHIV) have improved survival because of the advent of antiretroviral therapy. Consequently, PWHIV experience higher rates of non‐acquired immunodeficiency syndrome‐defining malignancies (NADMs). Previous studies have demonstrated worsened cancer‐specific survival in PWHIV, partly because of advanced cancer stage at diagnosis. The objective of the current systematic review was to evaluate screening disparities for NADMs among PWHIV.

Methods

The PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched from January 1, 1996 through April 10, 2018 to identify studies related to screening disparities for NADMs among PWHIV. Eligibility criteria included any study performed in a high‐income country that compared screening for NADMs by HIV status. After title/abstract screening and full‐text review, articles that met eligibility criteria were analyzed.

Results

Of 613 unique articles identified through the search, 9 studies were analyzed. Three studies addressed breast cancer screening, 4 addressed colorectal cancer screening, and 2 addressed prostate cancer screening. Five of the reviewed studies demonstrated that PWHIV were less likely to receive indicated cancer screenings compared with the general population, whereas 3 indicated that screening proportions were higher among PWHIV, and 1 demonstrated that screening proportions were comparable. In most of the studies, PWHIV who had regular access to health care were more likely to undergo cancer screening.

Conclusions

The available evidence does not uniformly confirm that PWHIV are less likely to receive cancer screening. Social determinants of health (insurance status, access to health care, education, income level) were associated with the receipt of appropriate cancer screening, suggesting that these barriers need to be addressed to improve cancer screening in PWHIV.

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