Global burden of cancer attributable to HIV: a worldwide incidence analysis

Scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) provide the first global assessment of the burden of cancer attributable to infection with HIV, in a new study published in The Lancet Global Health. The researchers also examined the burden and the principal attributable cancer types by world region, using data from the IARC GLOBOCAN 2022 database.

The research team found vast regional disparities, with 70% of the 81 300 global cancer cases attributable to HIV infection occurring in Africa. Of these, more than 40% were cases of cervical cancer and 35% were cases of Kaposi sarcoma. Cancers attributable to HIV infection accounted for more than 5% of the total cancer burden in Africa as a whole and more than 10% of the total cancer burden in both Eastern Africa and Southern Africa.

In contrast, cancers attributable to HIV infection accounted for 0.1–0.4% of the total cancer burden in other world regions. In North America and Western and Northern Europe, anal cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma accounted for a higher proportion of HIV-attributable cancers than cervical cancer or Kaposi sarcoma.

These new data on the combined overall burden of the nine cancer types that are considered to be attributable to HIV infection can inform national plans for HIV control and its potential impact on infection-related cancer burdens. The data can also inform priorities for specific interventions aimed to reduce the cancer burden among people living with HIV in different world regions, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, screening for cervical cancer, and screening for anal cancer.

Huang Y, Georges D, Rumgay H, Soerjomataram I, Clifford GM
Global burden of cancer attributable to HIV: a worldwide incidence analysis
Lancet Glob Health. Published online 19 August 2025;
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(25)00264-5

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