Screening for HIV infection in women with newly diagnosed cervical cancer.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in women with cervical cancer and to decide whether HIV testing should be included as part of the initial work-up of invasive cervical cancer.


METHODS
This was a prospective case controlled study. Women with newly diagnosed cervical cancer were tested and age-matched women with benign gynecologic conditions were selected as control. Serum samples were tested for HIV I and HIV II antibodies at diagnosis and 3 months later.


RESULTS
Two hundred twenty-five consecutive patients with newly diagnosed cervical cancer and two hundred twenty-three age-matched women with benign gynaecological conditions were tested. In comparison with the control, women with cervical cancer started sexual intercourse at an earlier age and had a statistically significant higher number of sexual partners. All the HIV tests were negative. The HIV prevalence rate was estimated to be 0.0-1.6% for both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
HIV screening should not be a part of the initial work-up for cervical cancer in a population with a low background prevalence.
Chan
Y-M
YM
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. chanymkoe@hotmail.com
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T Y
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Ngan
Hextan Y S
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Wong
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LC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*
D015483:HIV Antibodies