Web Desk(September 20, 207): HIVÂ patients who take their medication but also smoke are about 10 times more likely to die from lung cancer than from AIDS-related causes, a new study estimates.
Lifesaving antiretroviral drugs have improved life expectancy to the point that patients now have more to fear from tobacco than HIV, said lead researcher Dr. Krishna.
Based on the new findings, smoking cessation should be a focus of treatment, he and his colleagues said.
More than 40 percent of people with HIV are smokers, a rate more than double that of the general population, Reddy said.
Fatalism and depression among HIV patients often lead them to take up the habit, even though the threat of HIV has decreased significantly for those who take their medication as prescribed, Reddy said.
Tobacco smoke and HIV both promote inflammation and infections in the lungs, which increase cancer risk. “You put those two together and the risk becomes very high,” Reddy said.
The research team found that nearly 25 percent of HIV patients who take their medication but continue to smoke will die from lung cancer. Heavy smokers are at even greater risk, with about 30 percent dying from lung cancer.
Overall, people with HIV who smoke and adhere to their drug regimen are 6 to 13 times more likely to die from lung cancer than HIV/AIDS, depending on how intensely they smoke and whether they are male or female, the researchers reported.
“It turns out that lung cancer is now one of the leading causes of death for people with HIV, particularly among those who are on treatment,” Reddy said.
Quitting can drastically alter those odds, researchers found. Only about 8 percent of heavy smokers who quit by age 40 are expected to die from lung cancer, and the odds are even better for moderate and light smokers, the researchers said.
“Smoking isn’t very high on the radar when it comes to people with HIV,” Reddy said. “It’s often lower down on the priority list, when, in fact, today for a person with HIV who’s on treatment the No. 1 cause of death isn’t the virus. It’s smoking.”
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