Association of bronchogenic carcinoma and active pulmonary tuberculosis; with report of four cases.

Abstract

The history of coexistant bronchogenic carcinoma and active pulmonary tuberculosis has been reviewed. The literature reveals that bronchogenic carcinoma occurred in 1.4 per cent of autopsied cases of active pulmonary tuberculosis. Conversely, active pulmonary tuberculosis occurred in 6.4 per cent of the bronchogenic carcinomas in a review of recent autopsy series. Four autopsied cases of coexistent bronchogenic carcinoma and active pulmonary tuberculosis have been reported. There were 726 cases of active pulmonary tuberculosis in the past 25 years, so the incidence of bronchogenic carcinoma was 0.6 per cent in this group. In the same period 96 bronchogenic carcinomas were autopsied, so that 4.2 per cent of these patients had associated active pulmonary tuberculosis. Although the associated diseases may occur coincidentally, at times bronchogenic carcinoma may activate pre-existing pulmonary tuberculosis.