Neoplastic complications of HTLV-III infection. Lymphomas and solid tumors

Abstract

Neoplastic disease arose in 29 of 200 patients infected with human T lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III) seen at a suburban hospital. Seventeen patients had Kaposi's sarcoma, one of whom also had colon carcinoma. Nine patients had lymphoproliferative disorders (seven lymphomas, one T suppressor cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and one multiple myeloma), including three with concomitant Kaposi's sarcoma and one with colon cancer. One other patient had colon cancer, one had a seminoma, and one had pancreatic cancer. Kaposi's sarcoma as a complication of AIDS occurred mainly in homosexuals (17 of 42 homosexuals, one of 17 drug abusers, one of five heterosexually promiscuous patients, and one of six patients who had previously received transfusions). The high-grade lymphomas did not show a predilection for any particular AIDS risk group. Three of four solid tumors arose in elderly AIDS patients. Twenty-five of 75 patients with CDC-defined AIDS had a neoplastic disorder (26 are still alive and may yet demonstrate malignancy). Few other diseases of man have been associated with as high an incidence of neoplastic transformation as occurs with HTLV-III infection.