Breast cancer before and during the AIDS epidemic in women and men: a study of Tanzanian Cancer Registry Data 1968 to 1996.

Kaposi's sarcoma and malignant lymphoma are two cancers that are most often associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Recently, other cancers, including cervical cancer, have been associated with AIDS. The role of HIV in the pathogenesis of these malignancies is not well understood, and few studies have been done to determine any general increase in cancers after the onset of the HIV epidemic. This study compared breast cancer before and during the AIDS period by studying the total Tanzanian Cancer Registry data (1968 to 1996). The mean age among males increased from 50.88 to 52.63 years (p = 0.45) and among females decreased from 44.79 to 43.23 years (p = 0.005) before and during the AIDS epidemic, respectively. A statistically significant decrease in the incidence of breast cancer was observed during the AIDS epidemic period in both males (p = 0.001) and females (p = 0.021). The male-to-female ratio widened significantly from 0.09:1 to 0.03:1 (p = 0.0001). Further studies are needed to determine the incidence and observed changes of different cancers, including breast among patients with HIV/AIDS.