Rates of prostate cancer are approximately 25% lower among men living with HIV compared to men in the general population, Aidsmap reports a research team led by Dr Dianqin Sun of the National Cancer Centre, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing report.
Analysis of the results of 27 separate studies involving approximately 600,000 HIV-positive men showed that the incidence of prostate cancer was 24% lower among men with HIV compared to men in the general population. This finding was little changed when the researchers undertook a series of secondary, or ‘sensitivity’ analyses.
“Overall, the standardised incidence ratio was 0.76 and remained steady in a range of sensitivity analyses, indicating an approximately a quarter lower prostate cancer incidence in men with HIV/Aids compared with the general population.”
But there was considerable heterogeneity, or diversity, between the studies included in the review and there continues to be uncertainty about the reasons why men living with HIV have a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Therefore, the investigators believe their findings should be treated with some caution and urge more research into this area.
“Our meta-analysis shows that men with HIV/Aids have a lower prostate cancer incidence compared with the general population,” conclude the Beijing researchers. “Our findings support the need for further studies to address the epidemiological or biological pathways that affect the incidence of prostate cancer in men with HIV/Aids.”
Abstract
Background: Although previous studies have shown a decreased incidence of prostate cancer in men with HIV/AIDS, the consensus has not been reached. Our aim is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the risk of prostate cancer among people with HIV/AIDS.
Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library until March 2020. Cohort studies were included if they compared the prostate cancer risk between people with HIV/AIDS and uninfected controls or the general population. The summary standardized incidence ratio (SIR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model.
Results: A total of 27 studies were included for analysis, with more than 2780 males with HIV/AIDS developing prostate cancer. The results showed that HIV infection was associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer incidence (SIR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.64–0.91; P = 0.003), with significant heterogeneity (P < 0.001; I2 = 91.6%). A range of sensitivity analyzes did not significantly change the results.
Conclusions: Our study shows that people with HIV/AIDS have a lower incidence of prostate cancer compared with the general population. However, significant heterogeneity exists among the included studies. Further prospective studies with better designs are needed to elucidate the association between HIV infection and prostate cancer.
Authors
Dianqin Sun, Maomao Cao, He Li, Jiansong Ren, Jufang Shi, Ni Li, Wanqing Chen
[link url="https://www.aidsmap.com/news/oct-2020/men-living-hiv-have-approximately-25-lower-risk-prostate-cancer-says-meta-analysis"]Full Aidsmap report[/link]
[link url="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41391-020-00268-2#journal-info"]Prostrate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases abstract[/link]