| Abstract: | Oral findings of 42 Mexican AIDS patients with cancer were reviewed. Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) was the most frequent malignancy (81%) followed by non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) (12%). All cases of NHL were of high or intermediate grade and most of them were extranodal. Out of the 34 individuals with KS, 22 (65%) showed oral KS and in 21 of them the palate was involved. The clinical features of oral KS including site, appearance and size are described. Pseudo-membranous candidosis (PC), hairy leukoplakia (HL) and exfoliative cheilitis (ECh) were also found in these patients. There was no association of these lesions with any type of cancer. A strong association of oral candidosis and history of this infection was found, RR = 7.0 (1.3–4.1). There was evidence of severe immunosuppression in most patients, with mean average CD4 counts of 116 mm3 (range 4–841 /mm3). Oral KS, ECh, PC and HL were more common in patients with lower CD4 counts. Our findings illustrate the most frequent oral lesions associated with HIV-1 infection in patients with AIDS and cancer, and further support the importance of oral examination in HIV infected patients. |
