Clinicians should be familiar with immunodeficiency-related malignancies, a
s their incidence is expected to increase further with the rise in the numb
er and survival of immunocompromised patients. The most common malignancies
affecting the lungs in those patients are Kaposi's sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma and, to a far less extent, Hodgkin's disease and bronchogenic carc
inoma. However, their relative frequency depends on the types of immune def
iciency, including those due to congenital disorders, AIDS and drug treatme
nts. This review will summarize epidemiological data on the frequency of im
munodeficiency-related malignancies, recent advances on their pathogenesis
and current approaches to their diagnosis and treatment in the various immu
nosuppressed groups.