DA-EPOCH Was Not Better Than CHOP for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome-Related Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma Patients Treated in a South Brazilian University Hospital

Introduction: Lymphomas are an important complication of HIV infection where they occur with high frequency and are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality.The most prevalent lymphoma subtype in HIV positive population is the diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLCBL). Antiretroviral therapy (ART) and intensive chemotherapy have been introduced to these patients aiming to increase their response to treatment. Recently, dose adjusted-EPOCH (DA-EPOCH) was associated with better outcome when compared with CHOP. Since these publications, many centers in the world started treating HIV DLBCL patients with EPOCH. In Brazil, Rituximab is not allowed for the treatment of HIV lymphomas (any subtype) in the public health system, so HIV DLBCL patients usually are treated with CHOP or DA-EPOCH.

Objective:To compare the progression free survival and overall survival in HIV DLBCL patients treated with CHOP and DA-EPOCH at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Porto Alegre, a university public hospital from the southern part of Brazil.

Material and Methods:A retrospective cohort of all HIV positive patients and DLBCL, treated from 2007 to 2017 at HCPA. The medical records were reviewed to collect clinical data, reports on pathology, immunohistochemistry, computed tomography (TC) and/or FDG-PET scan from diagnosis and after treatment. Overall survival and progression free survival was determined by the Kaplan-Meier method, and statistical significance was determined by a log-rank test. The study was approved by the institutional review board and complied with the Declaration of Helsinki. All patients gave written informed consent.

Results:Forty-three HIV positive patients with untreated DLBCL were enrolled. The median age was 44 years, and 93% had a intermediate or high age-adjusted international prognostic index (aa-IPI). Specific adverse prognostic features included elevated LDH in 84%, B symptoms in 82%, Ann Arbor stage III or IV in 70% and extra-nodal disease in 81%. Central nervous system involvement was found in 9% of patients before treatment. Patients had a median CD4 cell count of 113 cells/mm3 with 21% having a CD4 cell count less than 50 cells/mm3 and 16% of patients were ART naive. Until 2014, CHOP was the chosen treatment for 34 patients. After 2014, DA-EPOCH was the prefered chemotherapy for HIV DLBCL patients and 9 patients were treated with this protocol. The progression free survival at 24 months was 69% in the CHOP group and 83% in DA-EPOCH (p=0.68). Overall survival at same period was 34.5% for CHOP vs 37% for EPOCH (p=0.74). CHOP and DA-EPOCH treatment groups presented similar features regarding the lymphoma and HIV infection, except for higher LDH level and aa-IPI score in the CHOP arm (p=0.02 and p=0.03, respectively).

Discussion:The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related to DLBCL in this subgroup of patients was associated with a very high-risk prognostic score group. Moreover, 21% of them presented a low count of CD4 cells (less than 50 cells/mm3) at diagnosis. The overall survival was lower than expected for both groups and DA-EPOCH was not associated with better outcome when compared to CHOP. This unexpected finding could be explained in part by the small sample of patients treated with DA-EPOCH, the population prognostic features and the unavailability of rituximab in the treatment of these patients. The follow up study will provide more informations about the impact of DA-EPOCH in our HIV patients. The access to rituximab in HIV DLBCL treatment should be an important point of discussion with public health care providers in Brazil.