The evidence-based treatment of AIDS-related non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

• Published in: Cancer treatment reviews 2004-05, Vol.30 (3), p.249-253
• Main Authors: Stebbing, Justin, Marvin, Vanessa, Bower, Mark
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Adult; AIDS; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - administration & dosage; Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active - methods; Chemotherapy; Drug Therapy, Combination; Evidence-Based Medicine; Female; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus 1; Humans; Infusions, Intravenous; Lymphoma; Lymphoma, AIDS-Related - diagnosis; Lymphoma, AIDS-Related - drug therapy; Lymphoma, AIDS-Related - epidemiology; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - diagnosis; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - drug therapy; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Non-Hogdkin’s lymphoma; Primary cerebral lymphoma; Prognosis; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Recurrence; Risk Assessment; Severity of Illness Index; Survival Analysis; Treatment Outcome; United Kingdom - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0305-7372; 1532-1967
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2003.12.004

As we enter the third decade of the AIDS epidemic, it is apparent that a large number of cancers are more common in people with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV). Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) remains the second most common tumour in such patients. At the onset of the epidemic, dose-intense combination regimens were used but these were quickly abandoned in favour of dose-modified strategies because of difficulties in tolerating aggressive chemotherapy in the presence of underlying immunosuppression. With the improvements in supportive care including more effective anti-retroviral therapies, colony-stimulating factors and prophylaxis against opportunistic infections, we are returning to the traditional chemotherapeutic approaches similar to those utilised in the non-HIV infected individual including infusional regimens. In this review, we discuss the evidence for choosing particular therapies in patients with AIDS-related NHL.