People with HIV have a higher rate of two types of skin cancer compared with those who do not have the virus, aidsmap reports.

Publishing their findings in the Journal of American Academy of Dermatology, researchers studied data on 4,280 HIV-positive members of a Danish HIV cohort study as well as 21,399 matched controls from the general Danish population.

The basal cell carcinoma diagnosis rate per 1,000 cumulative years of follow-up was 2.43 and 1.43 cases among those with and without HIV, respectively. The increased risk of this type of skin cancer among the HIV-positive individuals was seen only among men who have sex with men; for them, having the virus was associated with a 2.3-fold increased risk of basal cell carcinoma compared with not having the virus.

The squamous cell carcinoma diagnosis rate per 1,000 cumulative years of follow-up was 0.5 and 0.1 cases among those with and without HIV, respectively. This meant that having the virus was associated with a 5.4-fold increased risk of this type of skin cancer compared with not having the virus. Having a lower lowest-ever CD4 count was further associated with a higher risk of squamous cell carcinoma.

The rate of malignant melanoma was comparable between the two study groups.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.

To read the study abstract, click here.