Standardized care management ensures similar survival rates in HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: It has been suggested that HIV infection has a detrimental impact on patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The present study sought to test this hypothesis, while controlling for tumor extension and liver disease.

Design And Setting: A case control and a cohort approach were performed in patients with HCC managed prospectively via dedicated multidisciplinary team meeting in a single tertiary institution between 2004 and 2009.

Subjects: Of 473 consecutive treatment-naive patients with HCC, 23 were HIV-positive (HIV) and 450 were HIV-negative (HIV). HIV patients were matched 1:2 with a control group of HIV patients in terms of the etiology of HCC, the severity of liver disease, tumor extension, and year of diagnosis.

Intervention: Curative or palliative treatment of HCC.

Main Outcome Measures: Eligibility for HCC treatment, the treatment actually administered, and the survival rate.

Results: The HIV population was younger than the HIV population (mean age: 49 vs. 61 years, respectively; P < 0.0001). Curative treatment was recommended by the multidisciplinary team meeting and then actually performed to a similar extent in HIV patients (74% and 43%, respectively) and their matched HIV controls (74% and 56%, respectively). The HIV and their matched HIV patients did not differ significantly in terms of the 3-year survival rate [44% vs. 48%, respectively; mean (95% confidence interval) hazard ratio = 0.64 (0.3-1.3); P = 0.2]. In a cohort analysis, HIV status was not an independent predictor of survival among curatively treated patients.

Conclusion: In an equal-access unbiased environment, HIV status does not significantly influence treatment access, delivery, and outcome.