Malignant lymphoma of soft tissue in an HIV-1+ patient. A rare site for primary malignant lymphoma with implications for treatment. Military Medical Consortium for the Advancement of Retroviral Research.

Soft tissue lymphomas are rare; however, the only large reported series has indicated that soft tissue lymphomas may have a better prognosis than similar-grade tumors found at other sites, and even high-grade lesions may respond to local therapies. We present a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-positive, Walter Reed stage VI black male with a documented high-grade soft tissue non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with no other evidence of tumor on complete systemic evaluation. Although extranodal lymphomas are common in HIV-1 disease, we are aware of no other reports of a soft tissue lymphoma in an HIV-1-positive patient. A significant percentage of soft tissue lymphomas in the general population, even when they are high grade, responds to local therapies including surgical excision and radiation. Thus, confirmation of this diagnosis in HIV-1 disease may be important, because these patients frequently develop fatal opportunistic infections and tolerate chemotherapy poorly, especially in late stages of disease.