Without an effective immune system, the incidence of viral-associated cancers skyrockets. People with AIDS, for example, have a 1,000-fold higher incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma than people in the general population. Smoking and vaginal infections such as bacterial vaginosis are suspected cofactors, he said. Suppression of the immune system in these women seems to allow the virus to persist for longer periods and in great numbers, and this theoretically should place the women at greater risk for invasive cervical cancer. Transplant recipients also have an increased risk of HPV-related cancers, said Penn.
Recurrences are common, though.
We've treated women with carcinoma of the vulva who subsequently came back with a carcinoma of the cervix or the vagina. The evidence for this is highly controversial, however. Worldwide, HCC is one of the most common forms of cancer, although it is rare in the United States and Europe. It may be that the disease takes so long to develop that the individual with HIV dies of other causes, or it may be that the immune response to the viral infection plays a role in the development of the malignancy. A higher incidence of HBV-associated liver cancer is seen among transplant recipients, said Penn.