Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, HTLV-III/LAV, and HTLV-III/LAV antibody in the wife of a man with transfusion-acquired AIDS

Abstract

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the small intestine developed in a 66-year-old woman who was the wife of a man with transfusion-related acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Antibody to the human T lymphotrophic virus type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus (HTLV-III/LAV) was present in her serum, and the virus was isolated from her peripheral lymphocytes. The possibility that the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in this patient was a manifestation of HTLV-III/LAV infection is discussed. This is believed to be the first reported case of lymphoma occurring in a patient with documented HTLV-III/LAV infection outside the male homosexual risk group.