Deferral of antiretroviral therapy may lead to small increase in risk for AIDS-defining cancer <\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, March 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) — For people with HIV, deferral of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has a small effect on increasing the 10-year risk for cancer, according to a study published online March 16 in the Annals of Internal Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n Fr \u00a9d \u00a9rique Chammartin, Ph.D., from the University of Basel in Switzerland, and colleagues estimated the long-term risk difference for cancer with an immediate ART strategy in the Data collection on Adverse events of anti-HIV Drugs study. Data were included for 8,318 HIV-positive persons. The 10-year risks for non-AIDS-defining and AIDS-defining cancer were compared for immediate versus deferred ART initiation strategies.<\/p>\n The researchers identified 231 cases of non-AIDS-defining cancer and 272 cases of AIDS-defining cancer during 64,021 person-years of follow-up among HIV-positive persons (median age, 36 years). With immediate ART, the 10-year risks for non-AIDS-defining and AIDS-defining cancer were 2.97 and 2.50 percent, respectively. When deferring ART to CD4 counts less than 500 x 109<\/sup> cells\/L and less than 350 x 109<\/sup> cells\/L, the 10-year absolute risk differences were 0.12 (95 percent confidence interval, \u00e2\u0088\u00920.01 to 0.26) and 0.29 (95 percent confidence interval, \u00e2\u0088\u00920.03 to 0.73) percentage points, respectively, for non-AIDS-defining cancer and 0.32 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.21 to 0.44) and 1.00 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.67 to 1.44) percentage points, respectively, for AIDS-defining cancer compared with immediate ART initiation.<\/p>\n “We observed that strategies promoting deferral of ART initiation in ART-naive, HIV-positive persons are associated with a small increase in risk for AIDS-defining cancer,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Several pharmaceutical companies provided funding for the study.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n