OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical features and treatment of the patients with AIDS- related lymphoma (ARL).

METHODSThe clinical data, pathology, treatment and prognosis of patients with ARL were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTSAmong 10 cases of ARL, 9 were male and 1 was female. The median age was 42 years old. Lymphoma occurred in 6 patients after diagnosis as AIDS, and treatment for 7-48 months, 1 case among which was diagnosed but not treated, then the lymphomatous symptions appeared after 48 months; 3 patients were found to have HIV infection during the diagnosis and treatment of lymphoma. Eight patients (8/10) had extranodal involvement. The count of CD4T cells was (69-601)× 10/L at presentation, the median count was 255× 10/L, HIV viral loads of 6 patients underwent antiretroviral therapy were lower than the lower-limit when diagnosed, while the RNA HIV copies of other patients were 0-45000 copies/ml. Four patients (4/10) displayed fever, 6 (6/10) with local mass, 2 with sore throat and throat ulcer. The pathological types of 7 cases were B cell-originated, including 5 cases of diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCL), 1 case of Hodgkin's lymphoma and 1 cases of Burkitt' s lymphoma. The other 3 cases were T cell lymphomas. Nine patients received chemotherapy and antiretroviral therapy at the same time. There were no serious adverse reactions after chemotherapy. The CR rate was 67%, the median progression- free survival (PFS) was 14 months, the median survival time was 21 months.

CONCLUSIONClinical manifestations of ARL patients are diverse, chemotherapy combined with antiretroviral therapy may improve the prognosis.