[Human immunodeficiency virus infection and malignant lymphoma]

Infection by human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) is associated with an increased incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) of B cell origin and of intermediate grade (diffuse large cell lymphomas according to the Working Formulation) or high grade (Kiel classification and Working Formulation). They may be either primary central nervous system lymphomas or systemic lymphomas and are considered as AIDS-defining events. Systemic lymphomas are usually disseminated with a high frequency of extranodal sites. Their overall prognosis is much worse than for NHL in the general population. Pathogenesis is still a matter of debate. An increased incidence of Hodgkin's diseases (HD) in HIV infection is being suspected but has not been proved yet. However, HIV-associated HD differ from usual HD by clinical presentation, histological type repartition, and evolution. Finally, low grade lymphomas have been described in HIV infection, the only peculiarity being the unusual age of occurrence.