What are the diagnostic challenges in patients with both TB and cancer?
Diagnosing TB in cancer patients can be challenging due to overlapping symptoms like weight loss, fever, and night sweats. Moreover, imaging studies such as CT scans might reveal lung nodules or masses that could be mistaken for cancer metastases when they might be indicative of TB. Similarly, cancer-related immunosuppression can lead to atypical presentations of TB, complicating the diagnosis. Accurate diagnosis often requires a combination of microbiological tests, imaging, and sometimes tissue biopsy to differentiate between TB and cancer.
