LUNG CANCER IN PATIENTS WITH PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS: EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL FEATURES

Aim: To describe the clinical and epidemiological features of patients who developed simultaneously lung cancer (LC) and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Material and methods: Retrospective study of the medical records of patients diagnosed with LC and PTB at the Constanta Pneumophtysiology Hospital between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2018. Demographic data (age, gender, occupation), risk factors, clinical status, histopathological type of LC, stage at diagnosis, LC therapy, and laboratory results (sputum smear or bronchoalveolar lavage microscopy, culture, susceptibility testing for Mycobacterium tuberculosis) were collected. All hospitalized patients were evaluated. Results: Of the 559 LC patients, we identified 54 patients that had active TB at the time of LC diagnosis, mean age 57.27 ± 11.26 years, 37 (67.27%) men and 18 (32.73%) women. Most patients were smokers or former smokers (90.4%), diagnosed at an advanced stage (90.7% stage III and IV), and adenocarcinoma was the most frequent histologic type (40.7%). Positive smear microscopy was recorded in 24 (44.4%) patients, and 7 patients reported a history of TB contact. Thirty-eight (70.3%) of patients were new TB cases, 16 (29.6%) were relapses, and one patient was diagnosed with multidrug resistant (MDR) TB. Conclusions: LC patients with concurrent pulmonary TB were mostly males, smokers, with advanced LC, adenocarcinoma being the most common histologic type, with almost half of the cases, with positive smear microscopy.