HIV-Related Lymphoblastic Lymphoma

The clinical records of 17 patients with HIV-associated lymphoblastic mostly Burkitt-type lymphomas, are reviewed (54% of a total of 31 patients with HIV-associated malignant lymphomas, treated between 1/85-1/90). The lymphomas were diagnosed histologically with additional immuno-histochemical analyses, or cytologically, with subsequent immunocyto-chemistry. All patients were homosexual and HIV antibody positive, and the average age was 39 y. At initial staging evaluation an Ann Arbor stage III or IV was present in 15 patients (88%); a CDC-stage II of HIV-infection was present in 10 patients, CDC-stage III in 5 patients, and CDC-stage IV in 2 patients. An extranodal or mixed nodal/extranodal pattern of organ involvement was seen in 14 cases, with predominance of the gastrointestinal tract (30%) and the bone marrow (30%). The response rate to chemotherapy (CR + PR) was 81%, a CR was achieved in 53% of the patients, and relapses within a few months after CR were common. Survival following relapses in the CR- and PR group was similar, namely 5.2 and 4.9 months respectively. 2 patients in the CR-group and 1 patient in the PR group have been alive for 13, 19 and 30 months. An optimal therapeutic regimen for this disorder does not seem to have been found yet.