Factors associated with survival in patients with lymphoma and HIV

Abstract

Objective:To analyze the factors associated with survival in the largest cohort of individuals with HIV and lymphoma so far described in Brazil.Design:A retrospective, observational, multicenter study involving five institutions in São Paulo, Brazil.Methods:The medical records of consecutive patients with HIV diagnosed with lymphoma between January 2000 and December 2019 were screened. Inclusion criteria consisted of age over 17 years and a biopsy-confirmed diagnosis of lymphoma. The data collected included age, sex, staging (Ann Arbor system), duration of HIV infection, CD4+ lymphocyte count, HIV viral load, lactate dehydrogenase, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum beta-2-microglobulin levels, treatment and outcome.Results:Overall, 276 patients were included. Median age was 42 years. Most patients were male (74.3%) and with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1 (28.6% and 46.4%, respectively). Most had non-Hodgkin lymphomas (89.2%, n = 246), particularly diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (40.9%) and Burkitt lymphoma (26.4%). Hodgkin lymphoma accounted for 9.4%. Advanced stages III/IV were predominant (86.8%). HIV viral load at the moment of lymphoma diagnosis was detectable in 52.9% of patients. A CD4+ cell count of <200 cells/μl was recorded for 53% of the patients. Most patients (62.4%) were on combination antiretroviral therapy. The factors that significantly affected survival were: the ECOG performance status, lymphoma subtype, staging, beta-2-microglobulin level, central nervous system (CNS) infiltration, site of CNS infiltration, relapsed/refractory lymphoma and International Prognostic Index score.Conclusions:HIV status, CD4+-lymphocyte count and relapsed/refractory disease affected survival. Rituximab did not appear to improve outcome in HIV-related lymphomas.

Long-Term Survival Rates and Treatment Trends of Burkitt Lymphoma in Patients with HIV—A National Cancer Database (NCDB) Study

“…Despite the age of antiretroviral therapy (ART), which has greatly extended the life expectancy for people with HIV, HIV continue to be associated with an increased risk of death among patients with lymphoma [18,19]. Previous research has shown decreased survival for HIV-associated Burkitt lymphoma; however, these regional studies consisted of relatively small cohorts of patients (n < 300) [20][21][22].…”

Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome‐associated lymphoma: A retrospective Brazilian cohort

“…Cancer, particularly lymphoma, is the leading cause of death in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) era [1][2][3]. During the first 6 months of cART use, individuals with HIV are at an increased risk of developing Hodgkin/non-Hodgkin lymphoma (HL/NHL), probably due to immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), previously described in cases of opportunistic infections and Kaposi sarcoma [1,2,4]. The hallmark of IRIS is paradoxical worsening of an existing infection/disease or the appearance of a new condition shortly after initiating cART, together with a viral load drop ≥1 log and a concomitant increase in CD4 count [5].…”