HIV infection has been associated with an increased risk of developing several types of malignancies, including aggressive peripheral T‐cell lymphomas (PTCL). However, this is a rare occurrence with no more than a hundred cases reported in the literature. The purpose of this multicenter study is to describe the characteristics and to identify prognostic factors in patients with HIV‐associated PTCL. Data from HIV‐positive patients with a pathological diagnosis of non‐primary cutaneous, non‐leukemic PTCL were gathered retrospectively and are reported using descriptive statistics. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were also performed. Fifty one patients were included in our analysis. Median age was 38 years with a 5:1 male‐to‐female ratio. Patients presented with a median CD4+ count of 173 cells mm−3, and a median HIV viral load of 334,787 copies ml−1. The median time from HIV diagnosis to PTCL diagnosis was 4.5 years. About 75% of patients presented with advanced clinical stage and 66% with B symptoms. The most common subtypes were PTCLU (61%) and anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL, 22%). None of the ALCL patients tested expressed ALK. The median overall survival (OS) for the group was 12 months. In the multivariate survival analysis, the use of HAART and patients' performance status were independently associated with OS. HIV‐associated PTCL presents predominantly in young men with low CD4+ counts and high HIV viral loads. Both HIV‐related and lymphoma‐related factors were associated with OS. Am. J. Hematol. 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

; for the HIV-Associated Hodgkin Lymphoma in the cART Era Study Group BACKGROUND: The treatment and outcomes of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) continue to evolve. The International Prognostic Score (IPS) is used to predict the survival of patients with advanced-stage HL, but it has not been validated in patients with HIV infection. METHODS: This was a multi-institutional, retrospective study of 229 patients with HIV-associated, advanced-stage, classical HL who received doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) plus combination antiretroviral therapy. Their clinical characteristics were presented descriptively, and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the factors that were predictive of response and prognostic of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: The overall and complete response rates to ABVD in patients with HIV-associated HL were 91% and 83%, respectively. After a median follow-up of 5 years, the 5-year PFS and OS rates were 69% and 78%, respectively. In multivariate analyses, there was a trend toward an IPS score >3 as an adverse factor for PFS (hazard ratio [HR], 1.49; P5.15) and OS (HR, 1.84; P5.06). A cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4)-positive (T-helper) cell count <200 cells/lL was associated independently with both PFS (HR, 2.60; P5.002) and OS (HR, 2.04; P5.04). The CD4-positive cell count was associated with an increased incidence of death from other causes (HR, 2.64; P5.04) but not with death from HL-related causes (HR, 1.55; P5.32). CONCLUSIONS: The current results indicate excellent response and survival rates in patients with HIV-associated, advanced-stage, classical HL who receive ABVD and

ObjectivesNon-inferiority (NI) randomized clinical trials (RCTs) commonly evaluate efficacy of new antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients. Their reporting and interpretation have not been systematically evaluated. We evaluated the reporting of NI RCTs in HIV patients according to the CONSORT statement and assessed the degree of misinterpretation of RCTs when NI was inconclusive or not established.DesignSystematic review.MethodsPubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were reviewed until December 2011. Selection and extraction was performed independently by three reviewers.ResultsOf the 42 RCTs (n = 21,919; range 41–3,316) selected, 23 were in ARV-naïve and 19 in ARV-experienced patients. Twenty-seven (64%) RCTs provided information about prior RCTs of the active comparator, and 37 (88%) used 2-sided CIs. Two thirds of trials used a NI margin between 10 and 12%, although only 12 explained the method to determine it. Blinding was used in 9 studies only. The main conclusion was based on both intention-to-treat (ITT) and per protocol (PP) analyses in 5 trials, on PP analysis only in 4 studies, and on ITT only in 31 studies. Eleven of 16 studies with NI inconclusive or not established highlighted NI or equivalence, and distracted readers with positive secondary results.ConclusionsThere is poor reporting and interpretation of NI RCTs performed in HIV patients. Maximizing the reporting of the method of NI margin determination, use of blinding and both ITT and PP analyses, and interpreting negative NI according to actual primary findings will improve the understanding of results and their translation into clinical practice.

A high proportion of T-cell sNHL cases was found at an HIV reference center in Peru. Clinical characteristics were similar between B-cell and T-cell lymphoma patients. T-cell lymphoma was less aggressive, and patients with T-cell lymphoma had a better survival rate than those with B-cell lymphoma.

Introducción. El presente artículo resume la guía de práctica clínica (GPC) para el diagnóstico y tratamiento de lumbalgia aguda y subaguda en el Seguro Social del Perú (EsSalud). Objetivo. Proveer recomendaciones clínicas basadas en evidencia para el diagnóstico y tratamiento de lumbalgia aguda y subaguda en EsSalud. Métodos. Se conformó un grupo elaborador local (GEG-Local) que incluyó médicos especialistas y metodólogos. El GEG-Local formuló 11 preguntas clínicas a ser respondidas por la presente GPC. Se realizaron búsquedas sistemáticas de revisiones sistemáticas y –cuando fue considerado pertinente–estudios primarios en Pubmed, Embase y la biblioteca Cochrane durante el 2016. Se seleccionó la evidencia para responder cada una de las preguntas clínicas planteadas. La calidad de la evidencia fue evaluada usando la metodología Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). En reuniones de trabajo periódicas, el GEG-Local usó la metodología GRADE para revisar la evidencia y formular las recomendaciones y los flujogramas de diagnóstico y tratamiento. Finalmente, la GPC fue aprobada con Resolución N° 43- IETSI-ESSALUD-2016. Resultados. La presente GPC abordó 11 preguntas clínicas, divididas en tres temas: diagnóstico (tres preguntas), tratamiento no farmacológico (cuatro preguntas) y tratamiento farmacológico de lumbalgia (cuatro preguntas). En base a dichas preguntas se formularon 12 recomendaciones (2 recomendaciones fuertes, y 10 recomendaciones condicionales) y 2 flujogramas. Conclusión. El presente artículo resume la metodología y las conclusiones basadas en evidencias de la GPC para el diagnóstico y tratamiento de lumbalgia en EsSalud.

Limited and contradictory information exists regarding the prognosis of HIV/HTLV-I co-infection. Our goal was to estimate the effect of HTLV-I infection on mortality in HIV-infected patients at a HIV reference center in Peru. We studied a retrospective cohort of HIV-infected patients, who were exposed or unexposed to HTLV-I. Exposed patients were Western Blot (WB) positive for both retroviruses. Unexposed patients were WB positive for HIV, and had least one negative EIA for HTLV-I. These were selected among patients who entered our Program immediately before and after each exposed patient, between January 1990 and June 2004. Survival time was considered between the diagnosis of exposure to HTLV-I and death or censoring. Confounding variables were age, gender, baseline HIV clinical stage, baseline CD4+ T cell count, and antiretroviral therapy. We studied 50 exposed, and 100 unexposed patients. Exposed patients had a shorter survival compared to unexposed patients [median survival: 47 months (95% CI: 17-77) vs. 85 months (95% CI: 70-100), unadjusted p = 0.06]. Exposed patients had a higher rate of mortality compared to unexposed patients (HIV/HTLV-I (24/50 [48%]) vs. HIV only (37/100 [37%]), univariable p = 0.2]. HTLV-I exposure was not associated to a higher risk of death in the adjusted analysis: HR: 1.2 (0.4-3.5). AIDS clinical stage and lack of antiretroviral therapy were associated to a higher risk of dying. In conclusions, HTLV-I infection was not associated with a higher risk of death in Peruvian HIV-infected patients. Advanced HIV infection and lack of antiretroviral therapy may explain the excess of mortality in this population.

No abstract

We investigated the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 in Peruvian HIV-1-positive subjects, and found a 10.1% prevalence in a consecutive series of 318 HIV-1-positive patients living in Lima. Phylogenetic analysis of the long terminal repeat of 10 patient isolates showed that all of them belonged to the HTLV-1aA (Transcontinental) subgroup. Although the majority of the Peruvian sequences included in the analysis formed a clade with other Latin American sequences, the isolates of three patients clustered significantly with South African strains. These data show a high prevalence of HTLV-1 infection in HIV-1-positive subjects living in Lima and confirm the presence in Latin America of HTLV-1 strains probably arising from South Africa.