BRONCHOGENIC-CARCINOMA IN PATIENTS WITH H UMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUSINFECTION

The diagnosis of bronchogenic carcinoma (BC) in patients with HIV infe ction is infrequent. Five cases are described and the existing referen ces reviewed. The incidence, risk factors, clinical manifestations, hi stology, age of onset, diagnosis and survival in HIV positive patients with BC were analyzed. The clinical histories of 2,586 patients with HIV infection seen in the authors' center were reviewed. Five cares in whom BC was detected were found. Sixty-nine cases published in the in ternational literature were collected in a reference search by the MED LINE system between 1982-1994. The patients with Sc and HIV infection have an early age of presentation (mean age: 42 years) and a lower sur vival with respect to those without infection. No differences were obs erved with regard to the smoking habit, procedures for achieving diagn osis or clinical manifestations. The predominant histologic subtype wa s adenocarcinoma. A higher incidence of BC was observed in patients wi th HIV infection with respect to the control groups on elimination of the bias for age and risk factors for BC. Given its low incidence, BC should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary diseas e in patients with HIV infection in cases presenting a history of smok ing, once the most common opportunistic infections have been discarded .