Survival of patients with Kaposi's sarcoma in the South African antiretroviral treatment era: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: When South Africa (SA) implemented its antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme in 2004, the model for treating HIV-positive Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) patients shifted from symptomatic palliation to potential cure.

Objective: To evaluate survival and changes over time in AIDS-KS patients treated at a tertiary academic hospital oncology unit (the Steve Biko Academic Hospital medical oncology unit) in Pretoria, SA, in the context of ART availability in SA.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of electronic and paper records of KS patients who accessed cancer care between May 2004 and September 2012.

Investigation of breast cancer sub-populations in black and white women in South Africa.

Purpose: Bimodal age distributions at diagnosis have been widely observed among US and European female breast cancer populations. To determine whether bimodal breast cancer distributions are also present in a sub-Saharan African population, we investigated female breast cancer in South Africa.

Methods: Using the South African National Cancer Registry data, we examined age-at-diagnosis frequency distributions (density plots) for breast cancer overall and by their receptor (oestrogen, progesterone and HER2) determinants among black and white women diagnosed during 2009-2011 in the public healthcare sector.

Increased time-to-pregnancy is associated with domestic work in South Africa.

Background: The effects of female occupational exposures on fecundity have not been evaluated in South Africa. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of three specific occupational groups on time-to-pregnancy (TTP).

Methods: This cross-sectional study collected data, by means of a questionnaire, on 1210 women representative of a South African population, and sought information on: TTP for the most recent pregnancy, time-specific information on maternal factors and occupational exposures, as well as some paternal factors.

Record linkage to correct under-ascertainment of cancers in HIV cohorts: The Sinikithemba HIV clinic linkage project.

The surveillance of HIV-related cancers in South Africa is hampered by the lack of systematic collection of cancer diagnoses in HIV cohorts and the absence of HIV status in cancer registries. To improve cancer ascertainment and estimate cancer incidence, we linked records of adults (aged ≥ 16 years) on antiretroviral treatment (ART) enrolled at Sinikithemba HIV clinic, McCord Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) with the cancer records of public laboratories in KZN province using probabilistic record linkage (PRL) methods. We calculated incidence rates for all cancers, Kaposi sarcoma (KS), cervix, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-AIDS defining cancers (NADCs) before and after inclusion of linkage-identified cancers with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Erratum to "prostate cancer in South Africa: pathology based national cancer registry data (1986-2006) and mortality rates (1997-2009)".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2014/419801.].