The kinetics and predictive value of HIV-1
DNA (HIV
DNA) levels in relapsed or refractory HIV
lymphoma patients, treated with high-dose
chemotherapy (HDC) followed by autologous
stem cell transplantation (ASCT), were investigated. HIV
DNA was measured by real-time PCR in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 22 patients observed for a median follow-up of 31.0 months. At baseline, HIV
DNA was found to be correlated with HIV-1
RNA (HIV
RNA) (r = 0.56), but not with CD4(+) counts (r = -0.10). HIV
RNA load was under control for the entire follow-up, while HIV
DNA levels were almost always detectable (baseline levels vs. 1 year from ASCT levels, p > 0.05). Baseline HIV
DNA levels were significantly different between alive and deceased patients (p = 0.03), and the overall survival (OS) analysis showed that for patients with higher HIV
DNA levels at baseline there was a higher and nearly significant risk of death if compared to patients with lower levels (HR, 8.33, 95% CI, 0.99-70.06, p = 0.05). Our study demonstrated that high HIV
DNA levels at baseline could predict overall survival after ASCT in one of the largest cohorts of HIV
lymphoma patients treated with
salvage therapy.