Impact of HIV Infection on Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Long-Term Prognostic Analysis

Purpose: This study aims to explore the influence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: According to the search strategy, we searched all relevant articles in the three databases (PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library) up to February 18, 2024. All data available for analysis were extracted. Continuous variables were expressed as mean difference (MD) with standard deviation (SD). The categorical variables were expressed as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Forest plots were used to illustrate the analysis results, and funnel plots were used to assess publication bias. Results: The study included a total of 4544 subjects. HIV patients were significantly younger compared to those without HIV (MD = -16.13, 95% CI = -17.24 to -15.01, I-2 = 91, P < .01), but there were no significant differences in other relevant clinical characteristics between the groups. Survival analysis indicated that HIV patients exhibited a poorer long-term prognosis compared with HIV-negative patients (HR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.63 to 0.79, I-2 = 29%, P < .01). Conclusion: HIV infection, which compromises immune function and liver health, predisposes individuals to earlier onset of HCC and is associated with a poorer prognosis.