Women living with HIV who have gynecological cancers may not be getting care that follows national cancer guidelines, aidsmap reports.

Publishing their findings in the journal AIDS, researchers conducted a retrospective study of 57 women diagnosed with gynecological cancer while receiving care for HIV at a pair of Baltimore clinics between 2000 and 2015.

Fifty-three percent were diagnosed with Stage I cancers and the remaining with Stage II through IV cancers.

Forty-nine percent of the women received cancer care that followed National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. Seventy-three percent of the women with Stage I cancer received care that followed such guidelines, compared with just 22 percent of those with Stage II through IV of cancer.

Thirty-eight percent of the women did not receive cancer care according to national guidelines because of the toxicity of treatment, 31 percent because of personal reasons, including being lost to follow-up, 17 percent because of other health conditions, 10 percent for reasons related to their medical practitioner and 3 percent because of their cancer’s progression.

Almost all the women with Stage I cancer survived at least 48 months following their diagnosis, including 94 percent of those whose care followed cancer treatment guidelines and all those whose care did not follow such guidelines. The 48-month survival rates for those with Stages II through IV of cancer whose cancer care did and did not follow treatment guidelines were 60 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.