Unusual malignant tumours in patients with HIV infection

Abstract

The clinical charts of 2560 HIV-infected patients seen in our Unit between 01/89 and 08/01 were reviewed. All patients with a neoplasm were analysed to study the prevalence of tumours other than Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) or cancer of the cervix. There were 43 unusual malignant tumours: 13 lung cancers, six leukaemias, six skin cancers, two carcinomas of the conjunctiva, two cancers of the penis, three of the anus, three of the larynx, one sarcoma of the ureter, one gastric carcinoid, one non-differentiated thyroid carcinoma, one non-differentiated prostate carcinoma, one cancer of the tongue, one cancer of the bladder, one adenocarcinoma of the rectum and one multiple IgM myeloma. Thirteen (43.3%) of the patients died, 10 (76.9%) from causes related to the tumour itself. These results suggest that HIV-infected patients have a higher prevalence of some neoplasms than the general population.