Despite widespread use of combined antiretroviral therapy (ART) and increased life expectancy in people living with HIV (PLWH), HIV-related lymphomas (HRL) remain a leading cause of cancer morbidity and mortality for PLWH, even in patients optimally treated with ART. While incidence of aggressive forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma decreased after ART advent, incidence of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has increased among PLWH in recent decades. The coinfection of Epstein Barr virus plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of HL in the HIV setting. Currently, PLWH with HRL, including HL, are treated similarly to HIV-negative patients and, importantly, the prognosis of HL in PLWH is approaching to that of the general population. In this regard, effective chemotherapy is strongly recommended since it has been shown to improve survival rates in all lymphoma subtypes, including HL. As a consequence, interdisciplinary collaboration between HIV specialists and hemato-oncologists for the management of potential drug-drug interactions and overlapping toxicities between antiretroviral and antineoplastic drugs is crucial for the optimal treatment of PLWH with HL. In this article the authors review and update the epidemiological, clinical and biological aspects of HL presenting in PLWH with special emphasis in the improvement on prognosis and the factors that have contributed to it.
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Subject: Medicine and Pharmacology - Immunology and Allergy
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