The association of HIV status with triple-negative breast cancer in patients with breast cancer in South Africa: a cross-sectional analysis of case-only data from a prospective cohort study.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy diagnosed among women in South Africa, with the aggressive triple-negative subtype comprising approximately 15% of breast cancers in this population. South Africa has the largest population of people with HIV in the world. This study aims to evaluate the association between HIV status and the proportion of patients with breast cancer with the triple-negative subtype.

Cancer genetic mutation prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa: A review of existing data.

Background: Cancer represents a leading cause of death worldwide. Germline mutations in several genes increase the risk of developing several cancers, including cancers of the breast, ovary, pancreas, colorectum, and melanoma. An understanding of the population prevalence of pathogenic germline variants can be helpful in the design of public health interventions, such as genetic testing, which has downstream implications for cancer screening, prevention, and treatment.

International Variability in the Epidemiology, Management, and Outcomes of CKD and ESKD: A Systematic Review.

Key Points: There is dramatic global variability in the prevalence of ESKD. Higher health care spending in each country is associated with increased delivery of care for ESKD.

Background: Approaches to treating ESKD may vary internationally on the basis of the availability of care and other factors.

FGFR2 genetic variants in women with breast cancer.

Black African populations are more genetically diverse than others, but genetic variants have been studied primarily in European populations. The present study examined the association of four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 2, associated with breast cancer in non‑African populations, with breast cancer in Black, southern African women. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood samples of 1,001 patients with breast cancer and 1,006 controls (without breast cancer), and the rs2981582, rs35054928, rs2981578, and rs11200014 polymorphisms were analyzed using allele‑specific Kompetitive allele‑specific PCR™, and the χ or Fisher's exact tests were used to compare the genotype frequencies.

A Multi-Institutional Study of Barriers to Cervical Cancer Care in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Purpose: The global rise in cancer incidence has been accompanied by disproportionately high morbidity and mortality rates in low- and middle-income countries. Many patients who are offered potentially curative treatment for cervical cancer in low- and middle-income countries never return to start treatment for reasons that are poorly documented and little understood. We investigated the interplay of sociodemographic, financial, and geographic factors as barriers to care among such patients in Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Global Incidence of IgA Nephropathy by Race and Ethnicity: A Systematic Review.

Key Points: In 16 studies conducted abroad, IgA nephropathy incidence varied from 0.06 in South Africa to 4.2 per 100,000 in Japan.

The Impact of HIV Infection on Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Chemotherapy Relative Dose Intensity in South African Patients with Breast Cancer.

Introduction: In the South African Breast Cancer and HIV Outcomes (SABCHO) study, we previously found that breast cancer patients living with HIV and treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy achieve lower rates of complete pathologic response than patients without HIV. We now assess the impact of comorbid HIV on receipt of timely and complete neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Since June 2015, the SABCHO study has collected data on women diagnosed with breast cancer at 6 South African hospitals.

Discordance between PAM50 intrinsic subtyping and immunohistochemistry in South African women with breast cancer.

Purpose: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with different gene expression profiles, treatment options and outcomes. In South Africa, tumors are classified using immunohistochemistry. In high-income countries multiparameter genomic assays are being utilized with implications for tumor classification and treatment.

Drivers of disparities in stage at diagnosis among women with breast cancer: South African breast cancers and HIV outcomes cohort.

Objective: In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), advanced-stage diagnosis of breast cancer (BC) is common, and this contributes to poor survival. Understanding the determinants of the stage at diagnosis will aid in designing interventions to downstage disease and improve survival from BC in LMICs.

Methods: Within the South African Breast Cancers and HIV Outcomes (SABCHO) cohort, we examined factors affecting the stage at diagnosis of histologically confirmed invasive breast cancer at five tertiary hospitals in South Africa (SA).

The impact of HIV on non-adherence for tamoxifen among women with breast cancer in South Africa.

Purpose: Women living with HIV (WLWH) and breast cancer (BC) have worse overall survival than HIV-negative women with BC, and poor adherence to prescribed tamoxifen is known to contribute to poor survival. We therefore investigated the association of HIV infection with adherence to adjuvant tamoxifen among women with localized hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer in South Africa.

Methods: Among 4,097 women diagnosed with breast cancer at six hospitals in the prospective South African Breast Cancer and HIV Outcomes (SABCHO) cohort study between July 2015 and December 2020, we focused on black women with stages I-III HR-positive breast cancer who were prescribed 20 mg of adjuvant tamoxifen daily.

Prevalence of multimorbidity in men of African descent with and without prostate cancer in Soweto, South Africa.

Objective: With increases in chronic disease, men with prostate cancer are likely to have at least one other chronic health condition. The burden and complexity of each additional chronic disease may complicate prostate cancer treatment and reduce survival. In this paper, we describe the frequency of multimorbid chronic diseases, HIV and depression among men in Soweto, South Africa (SA) with and without prostate cancer and determine whether the presence of multimorbid diseases is associated with metastatic and high-risk, non-metastatic prostate cancer.

The Impact of Breast Cancer Treatment Delays on Survival Among South African Women.

Background: In high-income settings, delays from breast cancer (BC) diagnosis to initial treatment worsen overall survival (OS). We examined how time to BC treatment initiation (TTI) impacts OS in South Africa (SA).

Methods: We evaluated women enrolled in the South African BC and HIV Outcomes study between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2019, selecting women with stages I-III BC who received surgery and chemotherapy.

Impact of HIV infection on survival among women with stage I-III breast cancer: Results from the South African breast cancer and HIV outcomes study.

In some countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of HIV exceeds 20%; in South Africa, 20.4% of people are living with HIV. We examined the impact of HIV infection on the overall survival (OS) of women with nonmetastatic breast cancer (BC) enrolled in the South African Breast Cancer and HIV Outcomes (SABCHO) study.

Overall and central obesity and prostate cancer risk in African men.

Purpose: African men are disproportionately affected by prostate cancer (PCa). Given the increasing prevalence of obesity in Africa, and its association with aggressive PCa in other populations, we examined the relationship of overall and central obesity with risks of total and aggressive PCa among African men.

Methods: Between 2016 and 2020, we recruited 2,200 PCa cases and 1,985 age-matched controls into a multi-center, hospital-based case-control study in Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa.

The Impact of HIV on Non-AIDS defining gastrointestinal malignancies: A review.

Background: Cancer is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among people living with HIV (PLWH). Although gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are not associated with HIV, their incidence is rising among PLWH, and yet little is known about how HIV affects their presentation, treatment and outcomes.

Methods: We searched PubMed using "HIV" and "cancer", "esophageal cancer", "gastric cancer", "stomach cancer", "gastroesophageal cancer", "colorectal cancer", "colon cancer", or "rectal cancer".

Breast Cancer Early Detection in Eswatini: Evaluation of a Training Curriculum and Patient Receipt of Recommended Follow-Up Care.

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Impact of HIV infection on overall survival among women with stage IV breast cancer in South Africa.

Purpose: Advanced breast cancer (BC) at diagnosis is common in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including among women living with HIV (WLWH). In public hospitals across South Africa (SA), 10-15% of women present with stage IV BC, compared to < 5% in the United States (US); 20% of new BC diagnoses in SA are in WLWH. We evaluated the impact of HIV on overall survival (OS) among women with stage IV BC.