Salivary gland tumours in the era of antiretroviral treatment.

Abstract

HIV is a global pandemic with an estimated 36.7 million people infected worldwide with HIV in 2015. Sub Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected with South Africa being home to the world’s largest population living with HIV – which in 2016 was estimated at 7.1 million people. Data released in 2018 by Stats SA placed HIV prevalence rates in South Africa at 13.1% and 19 % for adults aged 15 – 49 years. Anti retroviral therapy has changed the face of the HIV pandemic with people infected with HIV now presenting with a wide variety of conditions including Non – AIDS defining cancers in the Head and Neck region. There are various Head and Neck sites that have been investigated but little data exists regarding the impact of HIV on the Salivary Gland subset of Head and Neck Tumours. In particular there is no data on the topic from South Africa. Kwazulu Natal’s high rates of infection make it an excellent region in which to conduct the study. The study will further explore epidemiology and the spectrum pathology of Epithelial Salivary Gland Neoplasms, in HIV positive and negative patients, presenting to our institution and whether our data compares to our local and international counterparts. This study/ project was conducted by performing a retrospective chart review to determine any differences between patients with HIV presenting with Epithelial Salivary Gland Tumours and their HIV negative counterparts. It further gathers information regarding patient presentation and outcomes between HIV positive patients on ARV’s and those not on treatments. It is hoped that this study will enlighten us to the trends in epidemiology of Salivary Gland Neoplasms at our institution and aspects of Epithelial Salivary Gland Tumours in HIV positive individuals, particularly in those on treatment and in doing so will enable us in future to faster recognize, diagnose and better manage affected individuals.