Chadburn A, Cesarman E, Jagirdar J, Subar M, Mir R N, Knowles D M
Department of Pathology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032.
Cancer. 1993 Nov 15;72(10):3078-90. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19931115)72:10<3078::aid-cncr2820721033>3.0.co;2-f.
CD30 (Ki-1) positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) has been only rarely described in HIV-positive patients.
The clinicopathologic features of eight ALCLs occurring in four AIDS and four HIV-positive patients were investigated. The phenotype of each neoplasm was determined by immunohistochemical methods. In three cases fresh tissue was available for molecular analysis.
The ALCLs are a clinically heterogeneous group of T (4), B (1) and indeterminate (3) cell malignant lymphomas which presented in the skin (4), liver (1), lung (1), nasal cavity (1; also with bone marrow involvement) and peritoneal fluid (1). While most of the patients had aggressive disease, dying in a median of three months, two patients had either localized or regressing skin lesions. Molecular studies showed that two ALCLs, one of B cell and one of indeterminate cell lineage, contained clonal Epstein-Barr virus sequences. None of the ALCLs examined contained evidence of HTLV-1 or HIV integration nor did they exhibit c-myc or bcl-2 proto-oncogene rearrangements. No mutations or deletions of the p53 tumor suppressor gene were identified in the three cases studied.
HIV-related ALCL represents a clinically heterogeneous group of T cell, B cell and null cell malignant lymphomas, distinct from the previously described categories of AIDS-associated NHL, that may expand the spectrum of lymphoid neoplasms associated with HIV-infection. Identification and investigation of other cases of HIV-associated ALCL is important to determine the nature of the relationship between HIV infection and the development of ALCL.
