Hematologic Malignancies Program

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AIDS-Related Lymphoma

What Is AIDS-Related Lymphoma?

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The lymph system is made up of thin tubes that branch, like blood vessels, into all parts of the body. Lymph vessels carry lymph, a colorless, watery fluid that contains white blood cells called lymphocytes. Along the network of vessels are groups of small, bean-shaped organs called lymph nodes. Clusters of lymph nodes make and store infection-fighting cells.

The spleen (an organ in the upper abdomen that makes lymphocytes and filters old blood cells from the blood), the thymus (a small organ beneath the breastbone), and the tonsils (an organ in the throat), are also part of the lymph system.

Because there is lymph tissue in many parts of the body, the cancer can spread to almost any of the body's organs or tissues including the liver, bone marrow (the spongy tissue inside the large bones of the body that makes blood cells), spleen, or brain.

AIDS-related lymphoma is a disease in which cancerous (malignant) cells are found in the lymph system in patients who have AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which attacks and weakens the immune system. Infections and other diseases can then invade the body, and the immune system cannot fight against them.

Lymphomas are divided into two general types-Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas-which are classified by the way their cells look under a microscope. This determination is called the histology. Histology is also used to determine the type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (of which there are many). The types of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are classified by how quickly they spread: low-grade, intermediate-grade, or high-grade. The intermediate- or high-grade lymphomas grow and spread faster than the low-grade lymphomas.

Both major types of lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, may occur in people with AIDS. Also, the intermediate- and high-grade types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are more commonly found in AIDS patients. Both types of lymphomas can also occur in adults and in children.

This page was last updated on: October 7, 2009.