In HIV-infected patients with a variety of advanced cancers, immune-checkpoint inhibitors appear to be effective and add no new risks, according to a new systematic review.

As Dr Chul Kim of Georgetown University, in Washington, DC, said by email, using checkpoint inhibitors “for the treatment of advanced-stage cancer in patients with HIV infection was associated with no new safety signals,” and “may be a safe and efficacious treatment option in this patient population.”

Checkpoint inhibitors have become a mainstay of treatment for several metastatic cancers, but patients with HIV infection have usually been excluded from clinical studies, Dr Kim and colleagues note in JAMA Oncology.

The researchers obtained data on 73 patients from case reports and series as well as ongoing clinical trials. Most patients (90%) were male and had a mean age of about 56 years.