Diagnostic challenges in lung malignancies in a young patient with HIV infection: Case presentation and review of the literature

Antiretroviral therapy has decreased the incidence of AIDS associated neoplasia, including Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and invasive cervical cancer. The frequency of non-AIDS-defining cancers in HIV patients is increasing, the reason remaining unknown. We present the case of a 23-year old male patient with a smoking history, on record for HIV nosocomial infection since the age of 12. HIV associated neurocognitive disorders and immunological decline were associated with non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy. The patient was addressed for right torticollis, fever, and progressive headache within the last month, diagnosed with a cervical metastasis secondary to a small cell lung carcinoma that was no longer surgically curable. The particularities of the case are young age, multiple risk factors for lung cancer and diagnostic difficulties due to incompletely treated tuberculosis in the context of severe AIDS and rapid evolution, followed by death at 1 month after diagnosis.