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HIV and cervical cancer in Kenya
Author(s) -
Gichangi P.,
De Vuyst H.,
Estambale B.,
Rogo K.,
Bwayo J.,
Temmerman M.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/s0020-7292(01)00560-4
Subject(s) - medicine , cervical cancer , incidence (geometry) , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , cancer , gynecology , obstetrics , presentation (obstetrics) , immunology , physics , optics
Objectives: To determine the effect of the HIV epidemic on invasive cervical cancer in Kenya. Methods: Of the 3902 women who were diagnosed with reproductive tract malignancies at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) from 1989 to 1998, 85% had invasive cervical cancer. Age at presentation and severity of cervical cancer were studied for a 9‐year period when national HIV prevalence went from 5% to 5–10%, to 10–15%. Results: There was no significant change in either age at presentation or severity of cervical cancer. Of the 118 (5%) women who were tested for HIV, 36 (31%) were seropositive. These women were 5 years younger at presentation than HIV‐negative women. Conclusions: A two‐ to three‐fold increase in HIV prevalence in Kenya did not seem to have a proportional effect on the incidence of cervical cancer. Yet, HIV‐positive women who presented with cervical cancer were significantly younger than HIV‐negative women.