Combo Therapy Fights AIDS-Linked Lymphoma

MONDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) -- A combination of chemotherapy and aggressive HIV therapy significantly improved survival rates for some HIV-positive patients also battling lymphoma, German researchers report.

Lymphomas are cancers of the immune system's white blood cells.

The study included 72 HIV patients with AIDS-related lymphoma treated with a multi-drug chemotherapy called CHOP (cylcophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) and HIV-suppressing, highly active retroviral therapy (HAART).

As reported in the April 1 issue of CANCER, this combo improved survival rates for HIV/lymphoma patients without severely impairing their immune systems. Survival rates were comparable to non-HIV lymphoma patients treated with CHOP, according to a team led by Dr. Rudolf Weiss, of the Specialist Practice for Hematology, Oncology and Infectious Diseases, Bremen.

The study found that 79 percent of standard-risk AIDS-related lymphoma patients achieved complete lymphoma remission, and more than 50 percent were alive after 47 months. Forty percent of these patients reported moderate drug toxicity.

Among high-risk patients -- those with impaired immune systems -- 29 percent achieved complete remission and median survival was 7.2 months, the researchers noted. Sixty-nine percent of these patients reported moderate toxicity.

"The present study showed that our risk-adapted strategy for concomitant administration of HAART and CHOP is effective and safe," the German team concluded.