Hepatocellular carcinoma in a teenager with perinatally acquired HIV infection without hepatitis B or C coinfection: A case report

A 19-year-old male with perinatally acquired HIV infection and AIDS (clinical stage 3) presented with a 9.1×5.0cm hepatic mass. The resected mass was determined to be a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) without metastasis. The patient did not have active hepatitis B or C coinfection, as revealed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), nor other risk factors for development of cirrhosis or HCC, and comprises only the second explicitly stated case of an HIV-positive individual developing HCC in the absence of concomitant hepatitis virus infection or other risk factors. This case illustrates the fact that as survival of perinatally infected individuals increases in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era, new associations between HIV infection and other disease processes may be uncovered.