A population-based database to study malignancies in HIV-infected patients in the Local Health Unit of Brescia (Northern Italy), period 1999-2009]

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. DESIGN: 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). SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: all HIV-infected patients belonging to the ASL of Brescia followed-up in the Clinic of Infectious and Tropical Diseases of Brescia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: 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 source A, 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 HIV-positive 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.