Brief Reports |
1 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London
2 Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust
3 UCL Medical School, London
4 St. Marys NHS Trust, London
5 St. Bartholomews and the Royal London Hospitals
6 Kings College London School of Medicine at Guys, Kings College and St. Thomas Hospitals, London
7 Royal Free NHS Trust, London
8 Western General Hospital, Edinburgh
9 University College London
10 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust
11 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London
12 Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit, London
13 North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK
Correspondence: Professor Caroline A. Sabin, Research Department of Infection and Population Health, Division of Population Health, UCL Medical School, Royal Free Campus, Rowland Hill Street, London, NW3 2PF, UK. E-mail:c.sabin{at}pcps.ucl.ac.uk
ABSTRACT
Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy, there has been a decline in the incidence of non-Hodgkins lymphoma among HIV-infected individuals. We described trends in the incidence of systemic non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the UK CHIC Study from 1996–2006 and evaluated the association between immunosuppression and development of systemic non-Hodgkins lymphoma: 286/23,155 (1.2%) individuals developed an AIDS-defining lymphoma (258 systemic). Younger age, receipt of highly active antiretroviral therapy and later calendar year were all independently associated with a reduced risk of systemic non-Hodgkins lymphoma. A lower latest CD4 count was strongly associated with systemic non-Hodgkins lymphoma, in patients who had (RR per log2(cells/mm3) higher: 0.62) and had not (0.70) received highly active antiretroviral therapy. Associations with other measures of immunosuppression, including nadir CD4 count, experience and duration of severe immunosuppression, were generally weaker. Earlier highly active anti-retroviral therapy initiation and wider access to HIV testing is advocated to reduce the risk of systemic non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Key words: non-Hodgkins lymphoma, HIV, immunosuppression, CD4 count, cohort study.