AIDS-related lymphoma

AIDS-related lymphoma describes lymphomasoccurring in patientswith acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

A lymphoma is a type of cancer arising from lymphoidcells. In AIDS, the incidences of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, primary cerebrallymphoma and Hodgkin's diseaseare all increased.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Non-Hogkin's lymphoma (NHL) is present in about 3% of HIVpositive people at the time of their diagnosis of HIV. 20% of HIV positive patients will develop NHL.

Primary cerebral lymphoma

Primary cerebral lymphoma (or primary central nervous system lymphoma) is a form of NHL. It is very rare in immunocompetentpeople, with an incidence of 5-30 cases per million person-years. However the incidence in immunocompromisedindividuals is greatly increased, up to 100 per million person-years.

Primary cerebral lymphoma is strongly associated with Epstein-Barr virus(EBV). The presence of EBV DNAin cerebrospinal fluidis highly suggestive of primary cerebral lymphoma.

Treatment of AIDS patients with antiretroviral drugsreduces the incidence of primary cerebral lymphoma.

Hodgkin's disease

The incidence of Hodgkin's disease in the general population is about 10-30 per million person-years. This increases to 170 per million person-years in HIV positive patients.

Reference

• Rigolet A, Bossi P, Caumes E, Agher R, Zeller V, Katlama C, Bricaire F. Caracteristiques epidemiologiques et evolution de l'incidence des lymphomes cerebraux primitifs observes chez 80 patients infectes par le VIH entre 1983 et 1999. Pathol Biol (Paris) 2001;49:572-5. PMID 11642021

See also

• AIDS
• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Hodgkin's disease

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS-related+lymphoma Wikipedia article AIDS-related lymphoma.