Abdominal neoplasia with sarcomatoid features as the presenting illness of a patient with a newly diagnosed HIV infection and no AIDS-related disorders. Case report, clinical and diagnostic features, and literature discussion

Abstract

We aim to describe a patient with an already advanced HIV infection disclosed for the first time during a complex diagnostic workup, which detected a gross abdominal mass attributable to a poorly differentiated mesenchymal cancer with sarcomatoid features which rapidly led our patient to death, in absence of other potential HIV-associated opportunistic diseases. Although extremely rare and rapidly lethal, our case report underscores the need of all caregivers who follow HIV-infected patients also in the cART era to maintain an elevated attention toward infrequent, unexpected, and clinically atypical solid tumors, in order to ensure a timely diagnosis and management when possible.