Table 1.
Characteristics of HIV-positive children with prevalent and incident cancer in South Africa.
| Children with cancer | Children free from cancer | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prevalent cases | Incident cases | |||
| All patients | 47 | 24 | 12,377 | |
| Cohort | Harriet Shezi | 18 (38%) | 7 (32%) | 5,785 (46%) |
| Khayelitsha | 2 (4%) | 1 (4%) | 1,096 (9%) | |
| Rahima | 1 (2%) | 3 (16%) | 2,752 (23%) | |
| Red Cross | 20 (42%) | 6 (24%) | 1,664 (13%) | |
| Tygerberg | 6 (15%) | 7 (24%) | 1,080 (9%) | |
| Gender | Male | 36 (77%) | 14 (52%) | 6,224 (50%) |
| Female | 11 (23%) | 10 (48%) | 6,153 (50%) | |
| Age at enrolment | Median (IQR) | 6.6 (4.3 – 9.9) | 5.0 (2.5 – 9.0) | 2.5 (0.7 – 6.3) |
| Age at enrolment | ≤ 1 year | 1 (2%) | 2 (8%) | 3,879 (31%) |
| 1 to < 3 years | 3 (6%) | 5 (21%) | 2,857 (23%) | |
| 3 to < 5 years | 12 (26%) | 5 (21%) | 1,574 (13%) | |
| 5 to < 10 | 20 (43%) | 7 (30%) | 2,897 (23%) | |
| ≥ 10 years | 11 (23%) | 5 (21%) | 1,170 (10%) | |
| Immunodeficiency at enrolment* | No / mild | 6 (13%) | 2 (8%) | 2,654 (21%) |
| Advanced / severe | 9 (20%) | 9 (38%) | 5,315 (43%) | |
| Missing | 32 (68%) | 13 (54%) | 4,408 (36%) | |
| Starting ART | Before enrolment | 19 (40%) | 2 (8%) | 1,924 (16%) |
| At or after enrolment | 27 (57%) | 20 (83%) | 8,717 (70%) | |
| Never starting | 1 (2%) | 2 (8%) | 1,713 (14%) | |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 23 (0.2%) | |
| Calendar year of starting ART | Before 2005 | 11 (23%) | 9 (38%) | 1,213 (10%) |
| ≥ 2005 to | 31(66%) | 12 (50%) | 7,628 (62%) | |
| ≥ 2010 | 4 (9%) | 1 (4%) | 1,800 (15%) | |
| Never starting | 1 (2%) | 2 (8%) | 1,713 (14%) | |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 23 (0.2%) | |
| Calendar year of enrolment | Before 2005 | 10 (21%) | 10 (42%) | 1,899 (15%) |
| ≥ 2005 | 37 (79%) | 14 (58%) | 10,478 (85%) | |
ART, antiretroviral therapy
WHO 2005 surveillance definition of immunodeficiency for the African region:21 No significant immunosuppression: children up to age 12 months >35 CD4%; children 13 – 59 months >25 CD4%; children ≥ 5 years CD4 cell count > 500/mm3; Mild immunosuppression: children up to age 12 months 25-34 CD4%; children 13 – 59 months 20-24 CD4%; children ≥ 5 years CD4 cell count 350-499/mm3; Advanced immunosuppression: children up to age 12 months 20-24 CD4%; children 13 – 59 months 15-19 CD4%; children ≥ 5 years CD4 cell count 200-349/mm3; Severe immunosuppression: children up to age 12 months <20 CD4%; children 13 – 59 months < 15 CD4%; children ≥ 5 years CD4 cell count < 200/mm3.