Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41749063›Full record

ArticleCancer medicine2026

Integration of HIV Status in Cancer Surveillance in South Africa: A Call for Action.

Carole Metekoua, Tracey Wiggill, Tinashe Tombe-Nyahuma, Yann Ruffieux, Judith Mwansa-Kambafwile, Stanford Kwenda, Tafadzwa G Dhokotera, Julia Bohlius, Eliane Rohner, Mazvita Muchengeti

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Article in Cancer medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Carole MetekouaNational Cancer Registry, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1331-8280
Tracey WiggillDivision of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8761-2162
Tinashe Tombe-NyahumaNational Cancer Registry, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Yann RuffieuxInstitute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0891-2448
Judith Mwansa-KambafwileNational Cancer Registry, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Stanford KwendaSurveillance Data Warehouse, National Institute of Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Tafadzwa G DhokoteraSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Julia BohliusSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1955-1585
Eliane RohnerInstitute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0554-2875
Mazvita MuchengetiNational Cancer Registry, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1955-923X

Funding

Observational Antiretroviral Studies In Southern Africa (OASIS) CollaborationU01AI069924 · NIAID · UNIVERSITAT BERN · PI Cleophas Chimbetete, Mary-Ann Davies · 2006 to 2026
$55.9M
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human DevelopmentFIC NIH HHSNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesNational Science FoundationNCI NIH HHSNHLBI NIH HHSNIAAA NIH HHSNIAID NIH HHS U01 AI069924NIDA NIH HHSNIDDK NIH HHSNIH HHS U01AI069924NIMH NIH HHSSchweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung 10004150Swiss Cancer Research foundation KFS-5415-08-2021
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) increases the risk of developing cancer. We aimed to assign HIV status to cancers diagnosed in public laboratories recorded in the National Cancer Registry (NCR) in South Africa, guided by HIV counselling and testing guidelines.

methodsWe used natural language processing to extract HIV-related information from free-text reports and probabilistic record linkage to match cancers diagnosed between 2004 and 2021 to HIV-related tests from the National Health Laboratory Service Corporate Data Warehouse. We assigned HIV status based on the results of the HIV-related tests and their timing relative to cancer diagnosis. We used descriptive statistics and logistic regression to examine HIV status documentation patterns and HIV prevalence in cancer patients.

resultsOf the 496,517 cancers reported to the NCR, 41% (n = 203,937) had a documented HIV status. Documentation increased from 29% in 2004-2009 to 52% in 2016-2021. The odds of having a documented HIV status were 20% higher in females than in males and 16%-28% lower in other population groups compared with Black Africans. Patients with infection-related cancers had almost threefold higher odds of having a documented HIV status than patients with infection-unrelated cancers. Among cancer patients with documented HIV status, HIV prevalence was 75% for infection-related and 32% for infection-unrelated cancers.

conclusionHIV status documentation among people with cancer has improved over time, but it is still suboptimal. Clinicians and pathologists in HIV endemic areas need to improve HIV ascertainment at cancer diagnosis and reporting to cancer registries to inform patient care and guide cancer control efforts.

Indexed as

HIV InfectionsNeoplasmsAdolescentAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPopulation SurveillancePrevalenceRegistriesSouth AfricaYoung AdultcancerHIVnatural language processingprobabilistic record linkageSouth Africa

Identifiers

PMID41749063
PMCPMC12945709

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.