HIV Status Does Not Affect the Outcome of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation (ASCT) for B Cell Non Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL).

Randomized trials have demonstrated superior progression free (PFS)and overall survival (OS) with autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) for patients with relapsed chemosensitive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) compared with conventional dose salvage chemotherapy. More recent trials have proven that ASCT is also feasible in pts with AIDS associated NHL (ARL). However, the impact of the HIV infection on long term outcome is unknown. We therefore, undertook a retrospective case control analysis of ASCT for high risk B cell NHL in HIV positive (HIV Pos) and HIV negative (HIV Neg) pts. Twenty-nine pts with ARL who underwent ASCT between 1998 and 2007 were matched with HIV Neg controls. Pts were matched for gender, time from NHL dx to ASCT, age at ASCT, dz status at ASCT, number of prior regimens, conditioning regimen (chemo vs. FTBI). Histology was matched as closely as possible with the exception that there were more high-grade NHL pts in the HIV Pos group.

Median followup for HIV Pos pts is 46.7 months and 43.3 months for HIV neg controls (NS). Pts engrafted WBC at a median of 10 days (HIV Pos) and 11 days (HIV Neg) (NS) respectively. Non-relapse mortality (NRM) was 8% (95% CI 2–26) in HIV Pos pts and 4% (95%CI 0.7–25)in HIV Neg controls (NS). Two year PFS for the HIV Pos cohort was 76% (95% CI 62–85) and 56% (95% CI 45–66) for the controls (NS). OS was also similar at 75% (95% CI 61–85) versus 75% (95% CI 60–85)respectively{ see figure }. In conclusion, despite the inclusion of more poor risk pts by histology in the HIV Pos cohort, our series demonstrated matching OS for HIV Pos and HIV Neg pts undergoing ASCT for NHL The equivalent NRM also provides further evidence that HIV status does not affect the outcome of ASCT for NHL and therefore, should be considered a standard approach for select pts with ARL.

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