This article is part of the supplement: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Malignancies in AIDS and Other Acquired Immunodeficiencies (ICMAOI)

Open Access Poster presentation

Hodgkin’s lymphoma characteristics in HIV-infected and uninfected patients at an urban hospital in the late combined antiretroviral era

Clifford Gunthel1, Marylin Adamski2, Marina Mosunjac3 and Minh Ly Nguyen1*

Author Affiliations

1 Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

2 Infectious Disease Program, Grady Health System, Atlanta, GA, USA

3 Department of Pathology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

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Infectious Agents and Cancer 2012, 7(Suppl 1):P26 doi:10.1186/1750-9378-7-S1-P26


The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.infectagentscancer.com/content/7/S1/P26


Published:19 April 2012

© 2012 Gunthel et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Background

As combined antiretroviral therapy has allowed patients infected with HIV to survive longer due to improved immunity, increasing incidences of non-AIDS associated malignancies as well as chronic comorbidities are reported. One of the more commonly reported non-AIDS associated cancers is Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) [1]. We report our experience of HL among HIV-infected and uninfected patients.

Methods

Grady Health System (GHS) provides care to the majority of the urban indigent population of Atlanta. Patients who were diagnosed with HL between January 2000 and June 2011were identified from the GHS pathology records and the GHS cancer registry. Clinic charts and medical records were reviewed. Patients’ demographics, CD4 counts, HIV viral load, HIV and HL treatment and outcomes were recorded.

Results

During the study period, 95 patients were diagnosed with HL (26% HIV-, 30% HIV+ and 43% HIV status unknown). The characteristics are displayed in Table 1.

Table 1. Characteristics of HL in HIV- and HIV + patients

Among the HIV+ patients, at time of HL diagnosis, the median Cd4 at time of HL diagnosis was 95(8-865)cells/mm3, and 3 (10%) are on cART .The median time from HIV diagnosis to HL diagnosis is 2 years (0-20).

Conclusions

In the current cART era, in our institution, HL in HIV+ patients is more likely to present with advanced disease (65% with stage III/IV). Interestingly, in 3 HIV+ patients, HL was diagnosed solely by bone marrow biopsy. Despite the availability of cART, patients are not accessing care. This may account for the poor one-year survival among HIV+ patients with HL.

Acknowledgement

This work was facilitated by the Center for AIDS Research at Emory University (P30 AI050409).

References

  1. Spina M, Carbone A, Gloghini A, Serraino D, Berretta M, Tirelli U: Hodgkin's disease in patients with HIV infection.

    Adv Hematol 2011, pii:402682.

    Epub 2010 Sep 23

    OpenURL