HIV and HCC in Africa: The H2A Consortium

肝细胞癌在非洲是一种非常常见和致命的癌症，作为艾滋病毒携带者的患者生活在非洲。 时间长了，肝细胞癌的负担可能会增加。在之前的研究中，我们的团队确认了慢性乙肝感染 C病毒(乙肝病毒、丙型肝炎病毒)、HIV和曼氏血吸虫病是肝细胞癌的独立危险因素。相比较 对美国来说，撒哈拉以南非洲的肝癌发生在较年轻和较晚期的患者中，仅 月份。Makerere大学的同事们提议在东非和西非建立伙伴关系 乌干达、塞内加尔范恩大学和约翰霍普金斯大学专注于艾滋病毒和肝细胞 非洲的癌症(肝癌)：H_2A联盟。建立在长期合作研究、指导的基础上 和临床活动，我们的首要目标是减轻亚洲区的肝癌负担 撒哈拉非洲。我们主张使用适当的医疗手段研究癌症拦截策略。 以阻断或逆转这些引起肝癌的感染的影响。我们将通过以下方式实现这一目标 发展地方能力，开展重要研究。财团活动旨在加强 临床、人口和转化性研究基础设施以及非洲研究人员个人能力 对艾滋病毒、慢性感染和肝细胞癌进行高水平的协作调查。首先，我们将形成一个大型的， 确定乙肝病毒和乙肝病毒/艾滋病毒混合感染者的预期队列，以确定哪些人需要治疗 临床反应，并表征突破性肝细胞癌，同时研究新的生物标记物。要理解 我们的数据证明了慢性乙肝和Sm感染之间的协同作用，我们将检查乙肝病毒 外周和肝脏对Sm治疗的临床和免疫学反应。艾滋病毒是 作为这两个项目中这些关系的关键修饰者而被调查。整合到我们的科学议程中， 早期阶段的非洲调查人员将获得指导和职业发展支持 一个利用联盟资源的协作性试点项目。我们的综合研究和 将开展能力发展活动，建立H_2A联合体，作为 在东非和西非的艾滋病毒和肝癌方面的卓越表现。

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a very common and lethal cancer in Africa, and as patients with HIV live longer, the HCC burden may increase. In prior studies, our team identified chronic infection with hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV, HCV), HIV and Schistosomiasis mansoni as independent risk factors for HCC. Compared to the US, HCC in sub-Saharan Africa occurs at younger age and more advanced stage with survival of only months. Proposed is an East and West African partnership between colleagues at Makerere University in Uganda, Fann University in Senegal and Johns Hopkins University focused on HIV and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Africa: The H2A Consortium. Building on long-standing collaborative research, mentoring and clinical activities in both countries, our overarching goal is to reduce the heavy burden of HCC in sub- Saharan Africa. We advocate investigating cancer interception strategies using appropriate medical treatments to interrupt or reverse the impact of these HCC-causing infections. We will accomplish this objective by developing local capacity and performing important research. Consortium activities are designed to enhance both the clinical, population and translational research infrastructure and individual African investigator capacity to conduct high-level, collaborative investigation of HIV, chronic infections and HCC. First, we will form a large, prospective cohort of HBV and HBV/HIV co-infected persons to define who needs HBV treatment, determine clinical responses, and characterize breakthrough HCC, while investigating novel biomarkers. To understand our data demonstrating synergistic interaction between chronic HBV and Sm infections, we will examine HBV clinical and immunological responses in the periphery and the liver in response to Sm treatment. HIV is investigated as a key modifier of these relationships in both projects. Integrated within our scientific agenda, early-stage African investigators will be provided mentoring and career development support while conducting a collaborative pilot project leveraging Consortium resources. The impact of our integrated research and capacity development activities will be establishment of the H2A Consortium as partnered Centers of Excellence on HIV and HCC in East and West Africa.