Abstract
BACKGROUND
Thailand was one of the first Asian countries to be affected by the epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Furthermore, Thailand possesses a national cancer surveillance system based upon regional cancer registries.
METHODS
Data from five population‐based cancer registries, covering one‐fifth of the national population, were used to study trends in the incidence of malignancies related to HIV/AIDS in Thailand during the period 1989–2001.
RESULTS
Although the incidence of Kaposi sarcoma (KS) increased slightly from 1989–1991 to 1995–1997, KS remains a very rare malignancy in Thailand compared with other countries in which the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is much lower. The authors reported a marked increase in the incidence of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and particularly high‐grade/diffuse NHL. However, the largest increases in incidence were noted among individuals age ≥ 55 years and in regions with a relatively low prevalence of HIV/AIDS.
CONCLUSIONS
The rarity of KS presumably reflected the low prevalence of the causative agent (i.e., KS‐associated herpesvirus) in the Thai population. The increasing incidence of NHL may be related to the AIDS epidemic, although a similar increase is observed in many countries worldwide and is not specifically linked to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Cancer 2004. © 2004 American Cancer Society.