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Background and objectivesPeople living with HIV/AIDS are at an increased risk of developing cancer. The goals of this study were to obtain data on the prevalence of HIV in the cancer population and vice versa at a major tertiary cancer and HIV center in North India.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted over a 3-year period from July 2013 to June 2016, wherein successive HIV positive patients from an anti-retroviral therapy (ART) center were screened for malignancy. Simultaneously, successive cancer patients at the cancer center were screened for HIV. Baseline demographic details, risk factors, and laboratory investigations were obtained for all the patients.ResultsAmong the 999 HIV-positive patients at the ART center, the prevalence of malignancy was 2% (n=20; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13, 2.87). Among the 998 patients with a malignancy, the prevalence of HIV infection was 0.9% (n=9; 95% CI 0.31, 1.49). Weight loss, loss of appetite, and fever were the most common symptoms in patients with HIV and cancer. Among 29 patients with HIV and cancer, AIDS-defining cancer was found in 19 patients; non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was the most common malignancy reported (n=13).Interpretation and conclusionThere is a low prevalence of HIV in cancer patients as well as a low prevalence of cancer in HIV patients. AIDS-defining cancers remain much more common than non-AIDS-defining cancers. With the increased coverage of ART, it is expected that non-AIDSdefining cancers will increase, as is evident from data from more developed countries.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the breast dose heterogeneity in CT-based radiotherapy treatment planning and to correlate with breast parameters. Also, the number of slices required for treatment planning in breast cancer by tangential field technique has been assessed by comparing the treatment plans according to International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurement (ICRU) 50 guidelines (1993) for single-slice, three-slice, and multi-slice (3D) planning . Sixty women who underwent isocentric tangential field breast radiotherapy were included in this study. The plans were optimized and analyzed with dose volume histograms. Sixty-three percent of the single-slice plans and 26.7% of the three-slice plans showed poor dose homogeneity as compared to the 3D plans. Dose inhomogeneity correlated better with breast volume (r 2 = 0.43) than the chest wall separation (r 2 = 0.37) and breast area product (r 2 = 0.36). Similarly, breast volume correlated better with breast area product (r 2 = 0.80) than with chest wall separation (r 2 = 0.56). Breast volume can be approximated to breast area product from the relation, breast volume = [(breast area product x 8.85) − 120.05]. The results of this study showed that most of the cases require 3D planning for breast cancer. It also showed that patients with large breast are prone to have more dose inhomogeneity with standard tangential field radiotherapy. In centers where 3D planning is not possible due to lack of facilities or workload, three slices-based planning can be performed to approximate the dosimetric advantage of 3D planning.