Chemo Safe for Lung Cancer in High CD4 Pts (Reuters Health)
HIV-infected patients with CD4 cell counts above 200
who develop lung cancer can withstand chemotherapy without a
significant loss in survival, according to a new study.
A team at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, led by Dr. Roger
Hakimian, conducted a retrospective review of their institution's tumor
registry to determine outcomes of patients with concurrent lung cancer
and HIV infection. The investigators focused on the time period since
1996, when highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) became standard
HIV treatment.
The investigators identified 34 patients, 30 of whom had
non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and four who had small-cell lung
cancer (NSCLC).
Of those with NSCLC, 27 patients had stage IIIb/IV. Dr. Hakimian's
team found that "patients with CD4 counts > 200 or those on HAART
had numerically, though not statistically, superior survival."
They write, in the April issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology,
that "patients with advanced NSCLC have a survival time that approaches
that of the HIV-negative patients."
The key to optimal outcome was "preserved CD4 counts and/or on
HAART" and these patients with NSCLC are candidates for active therapy
for lung cancer.
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