AIDS-Related Lymphoma

Abstract

Patients with HIV are at increased risk of malignancy, particularly lymphoma, which is the most common malignancy leading to death. With the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), patients live longer but have a longer duration of antigenic stimulation, increasing the prevalence of AIDS-related lymphoma (ARL) in the population living with HIV. Highly active antiretroviral therapy plays a direct role in preserving the immune system, helping to decrease the incidence of ARL. We present a case of a female patient with HIV (CD4 count of 576 cells/mm3) diagnosed with a stage Ill-B non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2009 while off HAART. She was subsequently started on HAART, leading to full resolution of her lymphoma without any chemotherapeutic intervention. She was last seen in the clinic in December 2013 without any evidence of recurrence of her lymphoma. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of a stage III-B non-Hodgkin<in lymphoma in an HIV-infected patient, which resolved with only HAART.

The clinical features and prognosis of 100 AIDS-related lymphoma cases

“…cART should be the preferred treatment for ARL patients who cannot receive chemotherapy. Some ARL patients in our study achieved a CR even though they had received cART but not full-course chemotherapy, and other researchers described a patient who achieved a 4-year CR after cART alone 31 . Therefore, cART may play an important role in the treatment of ARL.…”