08 Aug HIV-Lymphoma Survival – Not Improving in Anti-Retroviral Therapy Era

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Satish Gopal, MD, MPH
Program in Global Oncology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
UNC Project-Malawi, Tidziwe Center, Private Bag A-104, Lilongwe, Malawi

MedicalResearch.com: What is the primary message our physician readers should take away from the piece?”

Answer: Lymphoma is one of the leading causes of HIV-associated death in the modern ART era. In our analyses of a large multicenter US cohort, survival for HIV-associated lymphoma patients receiving routine care has not clearly improved since the modern ART era began, and remains significantly worse than SEER outcomes for the same lymphoma subtypes in the general population. This was somewhat surprising in an era of normalizing life expectancy for HIV-infected patients on ART, and quite different from the outstanding results achieved for this population in recent clinical trials conducted by AMC and NCI.

MedicalResearch.com: What is needed in terms of future research?

Answer: Understanding the reasons for suboptimal outcomes even in the modern era, and gaining further insights into lymphoma biology in the context of HIV, are important areas of future research to cure these patients and allow them to live long, healthy lives reaping the benefits of ART. Extending these advances to patients in sub-Saharan Africa, where I now live and work, and where the burden of HIV-associated cancers is far greater than in any other part of the world, is also a critically important priority for the entire global cancer community.

Citation:

Temporal Trends in Presentation and Survival for HIV-Associated Lymphoma in the Antiretroviral Therapy Era
Satish Gopal, Monita R. Patel, Elizabeth L. Yanik, Stephen R. Cole, Chad J. Achenbach, Sonia Napravnik, Greer A. Burkholder, Erin G. Reid, Benigno Rodriguez, Steven G. Deeks, Kenneth H. Mayer, Richard D. Moore, Mari M. Kitahata, Joseph J. Eron, and Kristy L. Richards

JNCI J Natl Cancer Inst first published online July 26, 2013 doi:10.1093/jnci/djt158

Last Updated on March 25, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD