Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma presenting primarily in bone in a patient with AIDS

Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas have been recognized as an important and frequently fatal part of the spectrum of diseases associated with HIV infection. These are most often high-grade B-cell lymphomas usually of immunoblastic and small cell non-cleaved subtypes. Sporadic reports of T-cell lymphomas associated with HIV infection are found in the literature. Two have been reported to be CD30 positive presenting with lymph node and skin involvement. We report a case of an AIDS patient with a T-cell anaplastic large-cell lymphoma that was CD30-positive and presented in bone. This is most probably a sporadic event rather than another part of the AIDS-associated spectrum of disease.