Central nervous system involvement in AIDS‐related lymphomas

Summary Central nervous system (CNS) involvement is reportedly more common in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)‐related lymphomas (ARL). We describe factors and outcomes associated with CNS involvement at baseline (CNSB) and relapse (CNSR) in 886 patients with newly diagnosed ARL. Of 886 patients, 800 received either intrathecal (IT) therapy for CNSB or IT prophylaxis. CNSB was found in 13%. CNSB was not associated with reduced overall survival (OS). There was no difference in the prevalence of CNSB between the pre‐combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) and cART eras. 5·3% of patients experienced CNSR at a median of 4·2 months after diagnosis (12% if CNSB; 4% if not). Median OS after CNSR was 1·6 months. On multivariate analysis, only CNSB [hazard ratio (HR) 3·68, P = 0·005] and complete response to initial therapy (HR 0·14, P