Cancer of the digestive system is the most common cause of death among malignant neoplasms (Table 1). According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) for 2008, the incidence of cancer of the digestive system was 49.2 people per 100 thousand people per year, the mortality rate was 34.3 people per 100 thousand. At a relatively low incidence rate, esophageal cancer is the seventh most common cause of death from malignant tumors, giving way to lung, breast, stomach, liver, prostate, and colon cancers. This is due to the extremely malignant nature of the course, early metastasis, and late diagnosis of esophageal cancer. The aggressiveness index, calculated as the ratio of deaths to new cases, is extremely high in esophageal cancer and is about 95%. The absolute number of deaths from esophageal cancer in 2008 in the world was 406 thousand people. In developing countries, morbidity and mortality from esophageal cancer are significantly higher than in developed countries (Table 2). The most common two histological types of esophageal cancer are squamous cell carcinoma and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Despite the similarity of the clinical picture, diagnostic and therapeutic tactics, an extremely unfavorable prognosis for both forms of esophageal cancer, these malignant neoplasms have different risk factors, socio-geographic and ethnic characteristics, knowledge of which is necessary for the timely establishment of the diagnosis and preventive measures. Squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (Fig. 1) is an extremely aggressive epithelial malignant tumor of stratified squamous epithelium, in most cases localized between the middle and lower third of the esophagus, the tumor is rare in the cervical esophagus

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Background: The data on the prevalence of arterial hypertension (AH) in patients with HIV/AIDS vary. Even though some authors have reported higher prevalence of high blood pressure and systemic arterial hypertension in this group, compared to the prevalence of AH in subjects without infection, other studies have found similar prevalence of AH between men and women with HIV and individuals without the infection. In Uzbekistan such researches were not conducted yet. Objective: Evaluate the prevalence of prevalence of arterial hypertension and its risk factors at the HIV-positive persons of Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan. Methods:A cross-sectional study aligned to a cohort of patients with HIV/AIDS. The study considered hypertension at levels ≥ 140/90 mmHg or use of antihypertensive drugs and prehypertension at levels > 120/80 mmHg. Results: Out of this total, 138 patients (48%) were male and 149 were female (52%); 65% of them were 40 years-old or younger, and other 35% were over 40 years of age. Among the individuals evaluated, 184 (64.1%) had blood pressure within the normal range, 62 (21.6%) were considered prehypertensive, and 41 (14.3%) were considered hypertensive. Twenty five patients (61%) knew they had hypertension, and 9 of them (36.0%) used antihypertensive medication on a continuous basis. The blood pressure levels were controlled in only 5 (20.0%) patients that knew that they were hypertensive. Conclusion: Among HIV-infected persons, 21.6% were considered prehypertensive, and 14.3% were considered hypertensive. It is important to warn clinicians who provide care to HIV/AIDS patients that such patients are not only individuals infected with a potentially fatal virus, but, despite the benefit of new antiretroviral therapies, they are also patients whose prognosis may be affected by comorbidities, such as hypertension. UDC CODE & KEYWORDS■ UDC: 616.12-008.331.1 ■ Arterial hypertension ■ HIV-positive persons ■ Risk factors