title: [A population-based database to study malignancies in HIV-infected patients in the Local Health Unit of Brescia (Northern Italy), period 1999-2009].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to complete the database of all patients infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who lives in the area belonging to the Local Health Unit (ASL) of Brescia, Northern Italy,with all the cancers diagnosed in the period 1999-2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  diagnoses of cancer between 1999 and 2009 registered in the electronic database in use in the Clinic of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (source A) for the clinic follow-up of HIV-infected patients were checked. Then, the cases were integrated with the data recorded in the ASL database (source B) and in the Cancer Registry of Brescia (source C).
  
  
  METHODS
  all HIV-infected patients belonging to the ASL of Brescia followed-up in the Clinic of Infectious and Tropical Diseases of Brescia.
  
  
  METHODS
  in the database were included all HIV-positive patients who had a diagnosis of cancer between 1999 and 2009. The diagnosis of cancer had to be present at least in two of the three sources considered; if it was recorded only in one of them, the source had to be an histological document or confirmed directly by the patient him/herself.
  
  
  RESULTS
  from the sourceA, 339 diagnoses of cancer were recorded, then other 82 records from the sources B and C were added, achieving a total of 421 cancers, belonging to 391 different patients. Half of the diagnoses was present in all the three sources considered. Among the AIDS-defining cancers (No. 200; 47.5%), Kaposi's sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma were the most frequent diagnosed tumours (22.8% and 22.33%, respectively). Among the non-AIDS-defining cancers (No. 221; 52.5%), malignancies of the skin other than melanoma (No. 41; 9.74%), tumours of the liver (No. 34; 8.08%) and Hodgkin lymphoma (No. 31; 7.36%) were the most frequent tumours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the database of all HIVpositive patients, including the diagnoses of cancer between 1999 and 2009, represents an important instrument, not only for the clinical practice: collecting clinical and sociodemographics characteristics of these patients, it would be possible to perform clinical and epidemiological studies.
authors.affiliation: Clinica di malattie infettive e tropicali,Università degli studi di Brescia.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calabresi
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferraresi
authors.forename: Rosa Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Limina
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Donato
authors.forename: Carmelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scarcella
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vassallo
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paraninfo
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Torti
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Castelli
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Quiros-Roldan
mesh_terms: D015658:HIV Infections; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin; D009369:Neoplasms; D012307:Risk Factors