Contributions of HIV to Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Mortality Trends in the United States.

BACKGROUND: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic has strongly influenced non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) incidence in the U.S. general population, but its effects on NHL mortality trends are unknown.

METHODS: Using SEER cancer registry data, we assessed NHL mortality rates in the United States (2005-2012) and mapped NHL deaths to prior incident cases. Data included HIV status at NHL diagnosis. We describe the proportion of NHL deaths linked to an HIV-infected case, for 3 AIDS-defining subtypes [diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), Burkitt lymphoma, and central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma] and within demographic categories. We also present incidence-based mortality (IBM) rates showing the impact of HIV on mortality trends and describe survival after NHL diagnosis by calendar year.

RESULTS: Of 11,071 NHL deaths, 517 (4.6%) were in HIV-infected persons. This proportion was higher in deaths mapped to DLBCL (7.3% with HIV), Burkitt lymphoma (33.3%), and CNS lymphoma (17.6%), and among deaths from these subtypes, for people aged 20-49 years (46.6%), males (15.2%), and blacks (39.3%). IBM rates declined steeply during 2005-2012 for HIV-infected NHL cases (-7.6% per year, P = 0.001). This trend reflects a steep decline in incident NHL among HIV-infected people after 1996, when highly active antiretroviral therapy was introduced. Five-year cancer-specific survival improved more markedly among HIV-infected cases (9%-54%) than HIV-uninfected cases (62%-76%) during 1990-2008.

CONCLUSIONS: The HIV epidemic has strongly contributed to NHL deaths, especially for AIDS-defining NHL subtypes and groups with high HIV prevalence.

IMPACT: Declining NHL mortality rates for HIV-infected cases reflect both declining incidence and improving survival. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(9); 1289-96. ©2016 AACR.