HIV-positive people who have lymphoma should no longer be excluded from receiving stem cell transplants, nor should their treatment be restricted to certain clinics, Medscape reports. Presenting their findings at the American Society of Hematology meetings in San Francisco, researchers conducted a single-arm, multi-institutional clinical trial in which 40 HIV-positive participants 15 years of age or older received autologous blood stem cell transplantation for lymphoma. All of them had failed a previous lymphoma treatment.

The one-year, progression-free survival rate for the group was 82.3 percent. This rate was comparable to the 151 matched control individuals, who had lymphoma but were HIV negative. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of survival rates, treatment failure, disease progression or treatment-related death.

Typically, transplantation is restricted to sites that have expertise in treating lymphoma in people with HIV. This study suggests such an exclusionary policy is unwarranted.

To read the Medscape story, click here.

To read the press release, click here.