Abstract
This thesis is an analysis of our on-going or published works on the theme of prevention, early diagnosis, screening, and treatment of subjects living with HIV with lung cancer. The ultimate objective of this work is to improve care and prevention of lung cancer in people living with HIV (PLWHIV), and to promote research in lung cancer in this population. Our work underscores that lung cancer treatment in PLWHIV should be identical to treatments administered for lung cancer in the general population. HIV is an additional comorbidity to be taken into account, but never a contraindication for optimal therapy. However, there exist specificities in management of PLWHIV with lung cancer, including the propensity for drug-to-drug interactions and additive toxicity between cytotoxic compounds for chemotherapy and antiretroviral therapy, with potentially lethal effects. Managing these toxicities implies optimal cooperation between oncologists and specialists in HIV, as well as good knowledge of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of these different compounds.The ANRS EP48 HIV CHEST Study in a cross-sectional, multicentre study, which included 442 subjects at lung cancer risk, primarily due to their age (≻40 years), smoking hazard (≻20 pack-years), as well as a CD4 cell nadir count ≺350 cells/µl. This study showed feasibility of lung cancer screening with chest Computed Tomography (CT) in PLWHIV. The early diagnosis of localized lung cancers, potentially curable, suggests clinical benefits for most participants with cancer. Also, the facts that no serious adverse events occurred with invasive diagnostic procedures and that the prevalence of positive nodules was in the range of those found in lung cancer screening studies in the general population are reassuring. Also, our work, combined with data from previous epidemiological studies, support a lower age limit for screening lung cancer with chest CT in PLWHIV at risk than in the general population, starting as early as 45 years. As in the general population, the impact of lung cancer screening with chest CT is not limited to the diagnosis of early stage lung cancers. The diagnosis of other morbidities, such as vertebral fractures, generally asymptomatic, emphysema, bronchiolitis, and coronary calcifications, have a probable positive impact on quality of life and a benefit in survival if managed adequately. Our works also illustrate the epidemiology of complications in PLWHIV under antiretroviral therapy and exposed to smoking hazards. Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, emphysema, lung cancer, coronary atherosclerosis have high prevalence in this subpopulation of PLWHIV. The epidemiology of these emerging morbidities is close to the epidemiology in the smoking general population, but specificities exist, due to the presence of chronic immunodeficiency, antiretroviral toxicities, and an increased prevalence of behavioural risks in PLWHIV in comparison with the general population. However, some complications are not associated with HIV-related and immunological factors, such as prevalence of emphysema, coronary calcifications, and bronchiolitis, underscoring the major impact of behavioural hazards in the occurrence of these complications.Taken together, our work highlights the importance of reducing health hazards in PLWHIV, primarily smoking and probably cannabis, to reduce the emergence of these new life-threatening morbidities in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy.