Henri Carrara

The spectrum of HIV‐1 related cancers in South Africa

Despite the high prevalence of infection by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in South Africa, information on its association with cancer is sparse. Our study was carried out to examine the relationship between HIV and a number of cancer types or sites that are common in South Africa. A total of 4,883 subjects, presenting with a cancer or cardiovascular disease at the 3 tertiary referral hospitals in Johannesburg, were interviewed and had blood tested for HIV. Odds ratios associated with HIV infection were calculated by using unconditional logistic regression models for 16 major cancer types where data was available for 50 or more patients. In the comparison group, the prevalence of HIV infection was 8.3% in males and 9.1% in females. Significant excess risks associated with HIV infection were found for Kaposis sarcoma (OR=21.9, 95% CI=12.5–38.6), non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (OR=5.0, 95%CI=2.7–9.5), vulval cancer (OR=4.8, 95%CI=1.9–12.2) and cervical cancer (OR=1.6, 95%CI=1.1–2.3) but not for any of the other major cancer types examined, including Hodgkin disease, multiple myeloma and lung cancer. In Johannesburg, South Africa, HIV infection was associated with significantly increased risks of Kaposis sarcoma, non‐Hodgkin lymphoma and cancers of the cervix and the vulva. The relative risks for Kaposis sarcoma and non‐Hodgkin lymphoma associated with HIV infection were substantially lower than those found in the West. Int. J. Cancer 88:489–492, 2000.

Association between human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection and cancer in the black population of Johannesburg and Soweto, South Africa

A case-control study of 913 black cancer patients (aged 15-50 years) was undertaken to measure the association between human immunodeficiency (HIV) infection and cancers believed to have an infective aetiology. Controls were patients with cancers believed not to be infective in origin. The prevalence of HIV in the controls of 7.3% (24 of 325) was similar to the background HIV seropositivity in this population. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for age, year of diagnosis, marital status and sex were calculated. There was a strong association between HIV infection and Kaposis sarcoma (KS), with 27 of 33 cases being HIV seropositive, OR = 61.8 (95% CI 19.7-194.2) and an elevated association with non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL), with 27 of 40 cases being HIV seropositive [OR = 4.8 (95% CI 1.5-14.8)]. The elevated odds ratio for KS associated with HIV infection accords with the observed increases in the incidence of KS in several sub-Saharan African countries where the prevalence of HIV is high. The odds ratio for NHL associated with HIV infection was lower than that reported in developed countries, and the reason for this is not clear. No other cancers, including cervical and liver cancers, showed significantly elevated odds ratios associated with HIV infection.

Risk factors for oesophageal, lung, oral and laryngeal cancers in black South Africans.

The authors used data collected from 1995 to 1999, from an on-going cancer case–control study in greater Johannesburg, to estimate the importance of tobacco and alcohol consumption and other suspected risk factors with respect to cancer of the oesophagus (267 men and 138 women), lung (105 men and 41 women), oral cavity (87 men and 37 women), and larynx (51 men). Cancers not associated with tobacco or alcohol consumption were used as controls (804 men and 1370 women). Tobacco smoking was found to be the major risk factor for all of these cancers with odds ratios ranging from 2.6 (95% CI 1.5–4.5) for oesophageal cancer in female ex-smokers to 50.9 (95% CI 12.6–204.6) for lung cancer in women, and 23.9 (95% CI 9.5–60.3) for lung cancer and 23.6 (95% CI 4.6–121.2) for laryngeal cancer in men who smoked 15 or more grams of tobacco a day. This is the first time an association between smoking and oral and laryngeal cancers has been shown in sub-Saharan Africa. Long-term residence in the Transkei region in the southeast of the country continues to be a risk factor for oesophageal cancer, especially in women (odds ratio=14.7, 95% CI 4.7–46.0), possibly due to nutritional factors. There was a slight increase in lung cancer (odds ratio=2.9, 95% CI 1.1–7.5) in men working in ‘potentially noxious’ industries. ‘Frequent’ alcohol consumption, on its own, caused a marginally elevated risk for oesophageal cancer (odds ratio=1.7, 95% CI 1.0–2.9, for women and odds ratio=1.8, 95% CI 1.2–2.8, for men). The risks for oesophageal cancer in relation to alcohol consumption increased significantly in male and female smokers (odds ratio=4.7, 95% CI=2.8–7.9 in males and odds ratio=4.8, 95% CI 3.2–6.1 in females). The above results are broadly in line with international findings.

Lung cancer, tobacco, and environmental factors in the African population of the Northern Province, South Africa

DESIGN Case-control study among incident African patients with cancer. Questionnaire assessment of exposure to tobacco, occupation, and place of birth. SETTING Northern Province, South Africa. SUBJECTS Between 1993 and 1995, 288 men and 60 women with lung cancer and 183 male and 197 female controls (consisting of patients newly diagnosed with cancers other than those known to be associated with smoking) were interviewed. Unmatched, unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of developing lung cancer in relation to a number of variables. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Risk of developing lung cancer related to exposure to tobacco, indoor pollution, dusty work environment, and residential exposure to asbestos. RESULTS There was a significant increase in the risk of developing lung cancer through smoking. In men, the ORs were 2.2 (95% CI = 1.0 to 4.6) in ex-smokers, 9.8 (95% CI = 5.9 to 16.4) in light smokers (0–14 g/day), and 12.0 (95% CI = 6.5 to 22.3) in heavy smokers. In women, the ORs were 5.8 (95% CI = 1.3 to 25.8) in ex-smokers and 5.5 (95% CI = 2.6 to 11.3) in current smokers. Work in a dusty industry showed an elevated risk (OR = 3.2, 95% CI = 1.8 to 5.8) for lung cancer only in men. Male residents of areas where asbestos was shipped for distribution (termed moderately polluted asbestos areas) had a 2.5-fold increase (95% CI = 1.0 to 4.4) in the risk (OR) of developing lung cancer, and residents of areas where asbestos was mined (termed heavily polluted asbestos areas) had a 2.8-fold increase in risk (95% CI = 0.7 to 10.4). Female residents of heavily polluted asbestos areas showed elevated risks of 5.4 (95% CI = 1.3 to 22.5) of developing lung cancer. CONCLUSION The data suggest that tobacco smoking is the most important risk factor for the development of lung cancer in this setting. Risks for lung cancer are reminiscent of those observed in Western countries in the 1960s and 1970s. However, environmental exposure to asbestos, a dusty occupation (in men), and perhaps indoor air pollution may also contribute to the development of lung cancer in this province.