# Integration of HIV Status in Cancer Surveillance in South Africa: A Call for Action

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-metekoua-hiv-status-cancer-registry-south-africa-cancer-med-2026/  
OnCo record `paper-metekoua-hiv-status-cancer-registry-south-africa-cancer-med-2026` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Of nearly half a million cancers recorded by South Africa's national registry from 2004 to 2021, only 41 per cent had a documented HIV status; among those that did, three in four people with infection-related cancers were living with HIV.

## Summary

The authors used natural language processing on free-text pathology reports and probabilistic record linkage to match cancers diagnosed in public laboratories between 2004 and 2021, recorded in the National Cancer Registry, to HIV-related tests in the National Health Laboratory Service's data warehouse, and assigned HIV status from the tests and their timing relative to diagnosis.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Journal: Cancer Medicine
- Year: 2026
- DOI: 10.1002/cam4.71661
- Authors: Metekoua C, Wiggill T, Tombe-Nyahuma T, Ruffieux Y, Mwansa-Kambafwile J, Kwenda S, Dhokotera TG, Bohlius J, Rohner E, Muchengeti M
- Findings: Of 496,517 cancers, 203,937 (41%) had a documented HIV status, rising from 29% in 2004 to 2009 to 52% in 2016 to 2021.; Among cancers with a documented status, HIV prevalence was 75% for infection-related and 32% for infection-unrelated cancers.; Documentation was more likely for women and for infection-related cancers, and less likely in population groups other than Black Africans.
- What it means: Many people diagnosed with cancer in South Africa are living with HIV, which affects their treatment, but registry records often do not say so; the authors call on clinicians and pathologists to record HIV status at diagnosis.
- Caveats: Public-laboratory cancers only.; HIV status is inferred from laboratory tests and their timing, not from a clinical record.

## Sources

- Cancer Med 2026: https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.71661
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41749063/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Cervical cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical/), [Kaposi sarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/kaposi-sarcoma/)
- institutions: [National Cancer Registry, South Africa](https://onco.cc/institutions/national-cancer-registry-south-africa/), [National Health Laboratory Service, South Africa](https://onco.cc/institutions/nhls-south-africa/)
- people: [Mazvita Muchengeti](https://onco.cc/people/mazvita-muchengeti/)

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