An interventional study of Strategies to improve HIV care engagement in Cancer and HIV, sponsored by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Recruiting at 1 site in Zimbabwe. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-29.
Sponsored by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research
In Zimbabwe, people who have cancer and HIV may have a difficult time staying engaged in their HIV care while they are being treated for cancer. This is because HIV and cancer care are usually provided at different health facilities, which can result in barriers to accessing clinical care for both HIV and cancer at the same time. It is important to remain engaged in HIV care, and continue taking medication to treat HIV throughout cancer treatment. The goal of this project is to identify barriers that make it difficult to stay engaged in HIV care and continue HIV treatment during cancer treatment and develop strategies to address them. The investigators will accomplish this by first observing a group of 150 people with cancer and HIV who are receiving cancer treatment at Parirenyatwa Hospital, in Harare, Zimbabwe. The investigators will measure barriers to accessing HIV care, and disruptions to HIV care engagement during cancer treatment. Next, the investigators will work with experts and key stakeholders to develop strategies that can be put in place at Parirenyatwa Hospital to better support engagement in HIV care during cancer treatment. The investigators will work with the cancer ward at the hospital to implement these strategies. Finally, the investigators will observe a second group of 150 people with cancer and HIV, who begin their cancer treatment at Parirenyatwa Hospital after the strategies have been put in place. The investigators will measure acceptability of these strategies to both patients and hospital staff. The investigators will also measure barriers to accessing HIV care and disruptions to HIV care engagement in the second group. The investigators will compare barriers to HIV care and HIV care engagement in the second group to the first group, to determine whether the strategies make it easier for people with cancer and HIV to remain engaged in HIV care during cancer treatment.
10,818 studies on the registry are indexed under Neoplasms; 2,324 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 300 is above the median of 60 across 7,703 interventional studies indexed under Neoplasms.
Browse Neoplasms studies →Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is the lead sponsor of 547 studies on the registry; 80 are open to participants now.
Of its 59 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 46 (78%) have results posted.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
This is a pre-post study. The pre-intervention cohort will not experience any intervention. The barriers to HIV care experienced by the pre-intervention cohort will be documented and used to develop strategies to support engagement in HIV care during cancer treatment. After follow-up is complete for the pre-intervention cohort, we will implement the strategies to support engagement in HIV care at the Parirenyatwa Hospital Radiotherapy Centre.
The intervention will be developed based on barriers to HIV care experienced by the pre-intervention cohort. It will be a system intervention, implemented at the Radiotherapy Centre at Parirenyatwa Hospital. It may include strategies like improving documentation of HIV-related information in oncology patient records, improving processes for referrals and access to HIV-related prescriptions, and supporting better communication between oncology and HIV clinical care teams. These strategies will be implemented with a period of process improvement between the pre- and post-intervention cohorts. Because the intervention will change the health system, all new patients who begin cancer treatment after the intervention is implemented will experience the health system updates. We will begin enrollment in the post-intervention cohort after process improvement is complete.
Other: Strategies to improve HIV care engagement
Based on the barriers to HIV care experienced by the pre-intervention cohort, we will design a system intervention to be implemented at the Radiotherapy Centre at Parirenyatwa Hospital. This intervention will include 2-3 components, each intended to improve engagement in HIV care or address specific barriers to HIV care. It may include strategies like improving documentation of HIV-related information in oncology patient records, improving processes for referrals and access to HIV-related prescriptions, and supporting better communication between oncology and HIV clinical care teams.
Acceptability of strategies to improve engagement in HIV care during cancer treatment
Acceptability of the strategies to improve engagement in HIV care during cancer treatment will be assessed using questionnaires administered during 6 months of follow-up after enrollment in the post-intervention cohort. The primary outcome will only be assessed in the post-intervention cohort.
Time frame: Acceptability assessed at Months 1, 3, and 6 after enrollment in pilot cohort
Missed ART prescription refills
We will measure missed ART prescription refills by self-reported ability to collect ART during cancer treatment
Time frame: From enrollment through 6 months of follow-up or completion of cancer treatment
ART adherence
We will measure ART adherence via self-reported missed ART doses, collected by questionnaire
Time frame: From enrollment through 6 months of follow-up or completion of cancer treatment
Missed HIV clinical visits
We will measure missed HIV clinical visits by self-reported ability to attend HIV clinic visits during cancer treatment
Time frame: From study enrollment through 6 months of follow-up or completion of cancer treatment
Plan to share: No — This is not an individual intervention - the intervention under study will be to the health system
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Started Nov 2024 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for May 2028, 41 months after the start.
Of 1,981 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Neoplasms, half reached primary completion within 29 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 13 and three quarters within 52. This study's planned 41 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 2,056 studies reached it within 29 months; a quarter within 13 and three quarters within 52.
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From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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