Prostate cancer in HIV-positive patients: a review of the literature

Objective: Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) has significantly increased the survival of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and reduced the incidence of AIDS-related diseases. The incidence of certain HIV-associated cancers such as Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) decreased after the widespread introduction of HAART in 1996, but more recent data show that HIV-infection is a risk factor for numerous cancers in PLWHA. Despite the increased prevalence of prostate cancer in general and in the HIV/AIDS population, the exact incidence of this malignancy in HIV-positive men is still unknown, due to the relative poor number of publications on this topic. Materials and Methods: We considered the studies published about the incidence of prostate cancer in PLWHA by a systematic research on PUBMED (Bethesda MD, USA). Results: The analyzed studies showed conflicting results, with a reported increase of prostate cancer incidence in PLWHA compared to the general population in some of them, while others reported a decrease. Conclusions: Further studies are required to clarify the real association between prostate cancer and HIV/AIDS. Increasing the knowledge about this association is necessary to improve the outcomes for this unique population.