Factors associated with survival in patients with lymphoma and HIV: the largest cohort study in Brazil.

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 count of <200 cells/mm3 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.