HHV-8-related lymphoproliferative disorders during HIV infection: A monoinstitutional experience

Abstract

6707 Background: HHV-8 has been established to be associated with: Multicentric Castleman Disease (MCD) and its related plasmoblastic lymphoma; Primary Effusion Lymphomas (PEL) and some cases of nodal lymphomas with anaplastic morphological characteristics (solid-HHV-8 L). Methods: The aim of our study was to describe the clinical features, outcome, immunological and virological characteristics and possible prognostic factors of HIV-infected patients (pts) affected by MCD, PEL and solid-HHV-8 L diagnosed and treated at the Aviano National Cancer Institute between April 1987 and June 2004. Results: Between April 1987 and June 2004 at the Aviano National Cancer Institute, 9 MCD, 13 PEL and only 3 solid-HHV-8 pts were diagnosed and treated out of a total number of 317 Non Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). The clinical outcome, the immunological and virological characteristics of the pts are described in the table. Conclusions: Our analysis demonstrated that MCD pts showed a significant shorter overall survival (OS) and a significant lower value of HHV-8 viraemia in comparison with solid-HHV-8 L pts (p=0.0002 and p=0.02). Solid-HHV-8 L pts had a significant shorter median OS and a lower HHV-8 viraemia in comparison with PEL pts (p=0.0003 and p=0.05); moreover they showed lower levels of HB, ALB and PTL in comparison with MCD and PEL pts. When the OS was stratified according to HHV-8 viraemia, we found that pts with HHV-8 viraemia >40000 cp/ml had a significant shorter OS in the overall lymphoproliferative disorders, but the multivariate analysis identified only the histology as a significant prognostic factor. HHV-8 viraemia seems to be associated with a shorter OS and solid-HHV-8 L, but further investigations are needed. Supported by ISS and AIRC grants. No significant financial relationships to disclose.