XML Feed for RxPG News   Add RxPG News Headlines to My Yahoo!   Javascript Syndication for RxPG News

Research Health World General
 
  Home
 
 Latest Research
 Cancer
 Psychiatry
 Genetics
 Surgery
 Aging
 Ophthalmology
 Gynaecology
 Neurosciences
 Pharmacology
 Cardiology
 Obstetrics
 Infectious Diseases
  AIDS
  Influenza
  MRSA
  Tuberculosis
  Shigella
  HCV
  SARS
  Ebola
  Dengue
  Malaria
  Pertussis
  Mumps
  Prion Diseases
  Small Pox
  Anthrax
  Leishmaniasis
 Respiratory Medicine
 Pathology
 Endocrinology
 Immunology
 Nephrology
 Gastroenterology
 Biotechnology
 Radiology
 Dermatology
 Microbiology
 Haematology
 Dental
 ENT
 Environment
 Embryology
 Orthopedics
 Metabolism
 Anaethesia
 Paediatrics
 Public Health
 Urology
 Musculoskeletal
 Clinical Trials
 Physiology
 Biochemistry
 Cytology
 Traumatology
 Rheumatology
 
 Medical News
 Health
 Opinion
 Healthcare
 Professionals
 Launch
 Awards & Prizes
 
 Careers
 Medical
 Nursing
 Dental
 
 Special Topics
 Euthanasia
 Ethics
 Evolution
 Odd Medical News
 Feature
 
 World News
 Tsunami
 Epidemics
 Climate
 Business
Search

Last Updated: Aug 19th, 2006 - 22:18:38

CANCER

AIDS Channel
subscribe to AIDS newsletter

Latest Research : Infectious Diseases : AIDS

   DISCUSS   |   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Combination therapy improves survival rates in AIDS-related lymphoma
Feb 27, 2006, 18:02, Reviewed by: Dr. Rashmi Yadav

"The present study showed that our risk-adapted strategy for concomitant administration of HAART with CHOP is effective and safe."

 
Combining aggressive HIV therapy and chemotherapy significantly improves the survival rates of HIV-positive men and women treated for lymphoma, according to a new study.

Published in the April 1, 2006 issue of CANCER (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer-newsroom), a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study reveals that combination therapy showed the greatest benefit for HIV patients suffering from aggressive malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This benefit was most pronounced in HIV patients without severely impaired immune functions. These so-called "standard risk" patients responded as well to therapy and survived as long as lymphoma patients without HIV.

Lymphomas are cancers of the immune system's white blood cells. They are treated with chemotherapy, often consisting of a multi-drug regimen using cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP). People with HIV, a virus that depletes integral, specialized white cells called CD-4 cells, are at increased risk of developing lymphomas, particularly aggressive, fast-growing non-Hodgkin type lymphomas. These are called "AIDS-related lymphomas" (ARL) and generally have a poorer prognosis than non-HIV-related lymphomas. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) revolutionized care of HIV-positive men and women. It not only improves laboratory indicators, such as increased CD-4 cells and reduced viral loads, but also significantly improves survival and delays the onset of AIDS and AIDS-related cancers, including lymphomas.

With the lack of study data to show the efficacy of maintaining HIV-positive patients on HAART while they are treated with chemotherapy for ARL, oncologists are hesitant to expose HIV patients to hypothetical drug toxicities related to combining the therapies. Researchers led by Rudolf Weiss, M.D., of Specialist Practice for Hematology, Oncology and Infectious Diseases in Bremen, Germany, treated 72 HIV-patients with ARL divided into high-risk and standard-risk cohorts with combined CHOP and HAART to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combined regimen.

The investigators found combined therapy improved survival rates for patients with ARL and standard level of risk to rates comparable to those in non-HIV patients with lymphoma treated with CHOP and superior to previously published rates achieved by CHOP alone. For standard-risk ARL patients 79 percent achieved complete remission, and after 47 months of follow-up and study's end, more than 50 percent of patients survived. Moreover, only 40 percent reported moderate drug toxicity. For high-risk ARL patients, only 29 percent achieved complete remission and median survival was only 7.2 months. Sixty-nine percent reported moderate toxicity.

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

- The study is published in the April 1, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
 

http://www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer-newsroom

 
Subscribe to AIDS Newsletter
E-mail Address:

 

Article: "Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome-Related Lymphoma: Simultaneous Treatment with Combined Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine, and Prednisone Chemotherapy and Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy Is Safe and Improves Survival--Results of the German Multicenter Trial," Rudolf Weiss, Paris Mitrou, Keikawus Arasteh, Dirk Schuermann, Marcus Hentrich, Ulrich Duehrsen, Hinrich Sudeck, Ingo G.H. Schmidt-Wolf, Ioannis Anagnostopoulos, Dieter Huhn, CANCER; Published Online: February 27, 2006 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.21759); Print Issue Date: April 1, 2006.

Related AIDS News

Keeping A3G in action represents a new way to attack HIV
Fighting HIV With HIV Virus Itself
HIV exploits competition among T-cells
Harmless GB Virus type C (GBV-C) protects against HIV infection
Study defines effective microbicide design for HIV/AIDS prevention
HIV depends on human p75, study shows
Simplified treatment of HIV infection shows promise
Clinical trial evaluates first-line approaches for treating HIV
T cells activated to fight HIV basis for dendritic cell therapeutic vaccine
B cells with special protein direct HIV to T cells


For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 

© Copyright 2004 onwards by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited
Contact Us