People living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), who adhere to antiretroviral therapy but smoke cigarettes, are about 10 times, more likely to die of lung cancer than from the AIDS virus itself, according to a new study. An annual low-dose screening test for individuals at high risk has the potential to dramatically improve lung cancer survival rates by finding the disease at an earlier, more treatable stage, the American Lung Association said in a statement. Besides reducing the risk of lung cancer, quitting will also decrease their risk of other diseases such as heart attack, stroke and emphysema, the researchers said. Among men who continued to be heavy smokers, an estimated 29 per cent would die of lung cancer by age 80, as would 23 per cent of moderate smokers and 19 per cent of light smokers. More than 40 percent of people living with HIV in the United States smoke, compared with 15 percent of the general adult population. Given how common smoking is, the researchers also projected the total number of expected deaths from lung cancer among people currently receiving HIV care in the US, taking into account current smoking rates and the inconsistent use of antiviral therapy that is frequently seen. “The data tell us that now is the time for action: smoking cessation programmes should be integrated into HIV care just like antiviral therapy,” Reddy said in the paper published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Eberhard van der Laan, the mayor of Amsterdam, takes a permanent leave of absence after disclosing that his metastatic lung cancer has been diagnosed as terminal.