Screening and treatment of latent tuberculosis in patients with solid tumors and systemic cancer therapy

• Miguel Borregón ^[1] ; David Sánchez ^[1] ; Elia Martínez ^[2]
  1. [1] Hospital General Universitario de Elche

     Hospital General Universitario de Elche

     Elche, España

     
  2. [2] Hospital de Fuenlabrada

     Hospital de Fuenlabrada

     Fuenlabrada, España

     
• Localización: Clinical & translational oncology, ISSN 1699-048X, Vol. 26, Nº. 9, 2024, págs. 2109-2115
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Introduction Tuberculosis is one of the infectious diseases with greater morbidity and mortality worldwide. Cancer causes an important immunosuppression with increased risk of infections. There is an enlarged bidirectional incidence between tuberculosis and cancer, mainly due to latent tuberculosis.

    Guidelines review There is great discrepancy between recommendations for screening and prophylaxis of latent tuberculosis in patients with solid tumors and systemic cancer therapy among different medical societies and guidelines. Most infectious diseases guidelines recommend it, while most oncology guidelines do not.

    Discussion Patients with solid tumours generally have a limited life expectancy and a state of intermittent immunosuppression, resulting in a lower risk of tuberculosis reactivation than other risky populations. There is a lack of prospective and retrospective studies analysing the benefit of screening and prophylaxis in this population. The first step is to study the incidence of active tuberculosis in this population to estimate the real magnitude of the problem.