Clinical features of HIV-infected patients with non-small-cell lung cancer after lung resection

The purpose of this study was to clarify the surgical outcome for HIV-infected patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Six HIV-positive patients underwent lung resection as treatment for NSCLC at our hospital from July 2010 to December 2017. Their clinical information was collected based upon review of their medical records.

All the patients included in this study had received highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) before lung resection with a mean duration of 99 months. Five patients underwent lobectomy and one patient underwent segmentectomy. Median preoperative CD4-positive T-cell count was 234/µL (range 138-428/µL). One patient contracted pneumonitis within 30 days post-surgery, whereas others had no postoperative complications. There was no postoperative mortality. For four patients, the pathological stage was upstaged compared to their clinical stage; IA1-IA3 (1 patient), IA3-IIB (1 patient), IB-IIIA (1 patient), and IB-IIIB (1 patient). Two patients died of lung cancer 2 years after surgery.

Surgical treatment for HIV-infected patients with NSCLC receiving HAART therapy and keeping adequate CD4-positive T-cell counts is safe and feasible. Preoperative precise staging using diagnostic imaging is difficult for these patients.