Lp. Jacobson et al., Impact of potent antiretroviral therapy on the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas among HIV-1-infected individuals, J ACQ IMM D, 21, 1999, pp. S34-S41
Effective HIV-1 therapies may directly or indirectly impact the development
of AIDS-associated malignancies. Using data from the Multicenter AIDS Coho
rt Study, a longitudinal cohort study of the natural history of HIV-1 infec
tion among homosexual men, the incidence rates of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) over calendar time were determined for the 18
13 HIV-1-seropositive men enrolled in 1984 through 1985. Poisson regression
models were used to identify statistically significant temporal trends. Ne
sted case control studies were used to assess whether recent cases of these
malignancies represented treatment breakthroughs. The incidence of KS as a
presenting AIDS illness significantly (p = .003) declined from 25.6 cases
per 1000 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI], 21.8-29.9) in the earl
y 1990s to an average incidence of 7.5 per 1000 person-years (95% CI, 3.4-1
6.7) in 1996 through 1997. In contrast, the incidence of NHL has continued
to increase significantly (p < .001) at a rate of 21% per year since 1985,
although a possible recent decrease is suggested. None of the recent KS cas
es and only 1 of 8 NHL cases had used the potent antiretroviral therapies,
compared with >70 percent of the HIV-1-seropositive men who were free of ma
lignancies and observed over the same time period. These results may be due
to an indirect protection against developing KS by the boosting of the imm
une system by antiretroviral therapies. However, it is important to clarify
the direct therapeutic effect on the pathogenic disease mechanism of human
herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8), the agent postulated to be important in the ca
usal pathway of KS. The absence of a similar effect on NHL may be due to a
lack of effect on its pathogenesis or because potent antiretroviral therapi
es need to be administered early in the disease process and the cases that
have occurred represent outcomes following a long latency period. With addi
tional follow-up, an impact on NHL may yet be observed.