title: Clinical characteristics of gastrointestinal lymphomas associated with AIDS (GI-ARL) and the impact of HAART.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the most common site of extranodal disease in patients with systemic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Patients with systemic NHL and GI involvement associated with AIDS (GI-ARL) have a significantly worse prognosis than those without AIDS. We studied whether the introduction of HAART is associated with improved survival in patients with GI-ARL.
  
  
  METHODS
  36 patients with GI-ARL were identified from the tumor registries of a large municipal hospital in New York City and a tertiary care facility in western New York State. Of these, 28 patients did not receive HAART and 8 were treated with HAART. The primary endpoint was survival, which was defined as time from date of diagnosis of NHL until death from any cause.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients were analyzed based on whether or not they were treated with HAART. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed significantly better survival in patients with GI-ARL who were concurrently treated with HAART (p =.014). Median survival was 5 months for the no-HAART group and 30 months for the HAART group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with GI-ARL who were treated with chemotherapy, concurrent therapy with HAART therapy was associated with improved survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, State University of Buffalo, New York.
authors.forename: Sridhar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeshita
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holkova
authors.forename: Myron S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Czuczman
authors.forename: Kena
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Zale P
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Driscoll
authors.forename: Asher
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chanan-Khan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D005260:Female; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D016483:Lymphoma, AIDS-Related / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis