FIG. 2.

HERV-K (HML-2) plasma titers in HIV-associated lymphoma patients at time of diagnosis and remission. Plasma was available pre- and posttreatment for nine patients (four with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, three with Hodgkin lymphoma, one with Burkitt lymphoma, and one with marginal zone lymphoma). The plasma HERV-K (HML-2) gag viral load was measured by real-time RT-PCR. The P value was calculated using the t test and comparing the mean HERV-K (HML-2) RNA loads at diagnosis and upon remission. Bars indicate the log median HERV-K (HML-2) RNA viral loads pre- and posttreatment. One patient with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was treated with foscarnet alone, which resulted in dramatic shrinkage of the tumor. Four other patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma were treated with cycles of cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine, and prednisone. The one patient with Burkitt lymphoma was treated with cycles of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, and intrathecal methotrexate. The single patient with marginal zone lymphoma was treated with rituxan plus cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine, and prednisone. The patients with Hodgkin disease were treated with cycles of adriamycin, bleomycin, velban, prednisone, and dacarbazine. In two patients, viral loads did not become undetectable following treatment: one patient with Hodgkin lymphoma completed only three of six cycles of chemotherapy, and the single patient with marginal zone lymphoma had only a partial remission. The other seven patients completed therapy and achieved complete and sustained remissions.