Independent of smoking, HIV infection is associated
with an elevated risk for developing lung cancer, according to a report
in the July 1st Clinical Infectious Diseases.
"As HIV-infected persons survive longer, we are continuing to see
that non-AIDS outcomes are becoming the primary causes of morbidity and
mortality," Dr. Gregory D. Kirk told Reuters Health. "Our study
suggests that the risks for these non-AIDS outcomes may be modulated by
HIV infection."
Dr. Kirk from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, Maryland and colleagues evaluated lung cancer
mortality among participants in the AIDS Link to the Intravenous
Experience (ALIVE) Study, a prospective study of a cohort of injection
drug users followed since 1998.
Among the 2086 participants, 27 died of lung cancer; 14 of the deaths occurred in HIV-infected subjects.
After adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, and HAART era, HIV
infection was associated with a 3.6-fold increased risk for lung cancer
mortality compared to HIV-negative status.
"We hope to combine our data with other HIV and at-risk cohort
studies to confirm the association between HIV and lung cancer," Dr.
Kirk said.
"Also, we are evaluating a series of smoking/tobacco related
biomarkers in HIV infected and uninfected persons with similar smoking
patterns to compare if the biological effect of smoking differs by HIV
status," he added. "If so, is this related to degree of immune
suppression or to antiretroviral treatment?"
"This will be important for providers in both maintaining a high
index of suspicion in evaluating HIV-infected patients (for example,
with symptoms of lung disease) and also for developing approaches to
reduce risk (such as smoking cessation)," Dr. Kirk pointed out.
Clin Infect Dis 2007;45:103-110.
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