Mechanisms of AIDS-related lymphoma pathogenesis

Abstract

Antiretroviral therapy has decreased the risk of lymphoma in the HIV-positive patient population, yet the incidence is still approximately 70-times greater than the incidence in the noninfected population. While some AIDS-related lymphomas are associated with oncogenic viruses (EBV and Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus), there are a significant percentage of tumors that do not contain detectable known oncogenic viruses. We suggest that HIV may play an indirect role in AIDS-related lymphomagenesis for a subset of tumors. This review will highlight and discuss the potential lymphomagenic effects of HIV within B cells and the possible mechanisms by which HIV infection contributes to lymphomagenesis in conjunction with macrophage infection.