Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In recent years, HIV-associated cancers have proven to be the bane of our time, since HIV is
decimating humanity across the globe, even in the twilight of the last century. Cancer rates
continue to rise in developing countries, where 95% of the world’s HIV-infected population
lives, yet less than 1% have access to antiretroviral therapy. HIV-infected individuals have
a higher proclivity to develop cancers, mainly from immunosuppression. An understanding
of the immunopathogenesis of HIV-related cancers (HRC) is therefore a major prerequisite
for rationally developing and/or improving therapeutic strategies, developing immunotherapeutics
and proplylatic vaccines. In this study, we explore the pathology of HIV-related
cancer malignancies, taking into account the pathogenic mechanisms and their potential
for improving the treatment of management of these malignancies especially in developing
countries. We mathematically model the dynamics of malignant tumors in an HIV-free environment,
investigate the impact of cancer malignancies on HIV-positive patients and explore
the benefits of various therapeutic intervention strategies in the management of HIV-related
cancers. We present two deterministic models of infectious diseases to implement these, and
they were analysed. We use HIV-related lymphomas in the Western Cape of South Africa
as a case study. We validated the proposed models using lymphoma incidence data from
the Tygerberg Lymphoma Study Group (TLSG), Tygerberg Hospital, Western Cape, South
Africa. We show that the increasing prevalence of HIV increases lymphoma cases, and thus,
other HIV-related cancers. Our models also suggests that an increase in the roll-out of the
HAART program can reduce the number of lymphoma cases in the nearest future, while it
averts many deaths. Furthermore, the results indicate that a highly crucial factor to consider
in the prognosis of the incidence of lymphoma (and other cancer types) in HIV-infected
patients is their CD4 cell count, irrespective of whether the patient has developed an HRC
or not.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/86573 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Creators | Akinlotan, Deborah Morenikeji |
| Contributors | Nyabadza, F., Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Science. Dept. of Mathematical Sciences. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 131 p. : ill. |
| Rights | Stellenbosch University |
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