Objective: Since the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) patients with HIV-related diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) show better control of immunosuppression, which may have an impact on the characteristics and prognosis of the disease. We aimed to compare the clinical presentation and prognosis of patients with HIV-related and HIV-unrelated DLBCL treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) in the cART era.
Methods and design: Eighty-one HIV-infected patients included in a Spanish multicentre trial were compared with 84 HIV-uninfected patients diagnosed in a Spanish institution in the same period all treated with R-CHOP.
Results: HIV-infected patients had a worse performance status, more frequent B-symptoms, and higher Ann-Arbor stages than HIV-uninfected patients, with similar frequency of extranodal involvement. The complete response (CR) rate of patients with high tumor burden was not different in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients. Patients with HIV-related DLBCL showed a worse overall survival (OS) (5-year OS: 56 vs. 74%) but a similar disease-free survival (DFS) (5-year DFS: 84 vs. 73%). In the subgroup of patients with high tumor, the results regarding survival were similar to the whole series. Previous AIDS-defining illness was the strongest negative prognostic factor for OS in HIV-infected patients.
Conclusion: In the cART era, HIV-related DLBCL still presents more aggressive features than HIV-unrelated DLBCL, and has a worse OS despite having a similar DFS. Prevention of HIV-related complications is essential to achieve outcomes comparable with HIV-uninfected patients with DLBCL.