Prognostic Factors in Children and Adolescents with Lymphomas and Vertical Transmission of HIV in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A Multicentric Hospital-Based Survival Analysis Study

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Lymphomas related to HIV are generally aggressive and have a poor prognosis, despite the use of effective combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) and effective chemotherapy treatment. This study aimed to evaluate, for the first time, survival and prognostic factors in children and adolescents living with HIV (CLWH) with lymphomas in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil. Our study population showed reduced overall, event-free, and disease-free survival probabilities. Performance status 4 (PS 4) and low CD4+ T-cell counts were considered poor prognostic factors. This study was designed to improve the quality of HIV-related lymphoma treatment in our population. ABSTRACT: Lymphomas related to HIV are generally aggressive and have a poor prognosis, despite the use of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) and effective chemotherapy treatment. To determine survival and prognostic factors in children and adolescents living with HIV (CLWH) in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil, who developed lymphomas, we performed a retrospective and observational study of vertically infected CLWH aged from 0 to 20 incomplete years during1995 to 2018 at five reference centers for cancer and HIV/AIDS treatment. Of the 25 lymphomas, 19 were AIDS-defining malignancies (ADM) and 6 were non-AIDS-defining malignancies (NADM). The 5-year overall survival (OS) and 5-year event-free survival (EFS) probabilities were both 32.00% (95% CI = 13.72–50.23%), and the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) probability was 53.30% (95% CI = 28.02–78.58%). In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, performance status 4 (PS 4) was considered a poor prognostic factor for OS (HR 4.85, 95% CI = 1.81–12.97, p = 0.002) and EFS (HR 4.95, 95% CI = 1.84–13.34, p = 0.002). For the DFS, higher CD4+ T-cell counts were considered a better prognostic factor (HR 0.86, 95% CI = 0.76–0.97, p = 0.017) in the multivariate Cox regression analysis. This study demonstrates, for the first time, survival and prognostic factors for CLWH who developed lymphomas in RJ, Brazil.