Clinical features in Hodgkin lymphoma patients living with human immunodeficiency virus: A meta-analysis in the antiretroviral therapy era.

Objective: Evaluate the clinical features in people with Hodgkin's lymphoma living with HIV (HIV-HL) during the combination ART (cART) era.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: The study was conducted in accordance with the recommendations of 2020 PRISMA and MOOSE statements. The protocol was prospectively registered through the PROSPERO (CRD42021289520). Manuscripts published until July 2023 were systematically searched in the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases, with no language and year of publication restriction. Meta-analysis was performed to estimate a pooled proportion of each outcome using a random-effect analysis. Quality assessment was performed by using New-Castle Ottawa scale. Certainty of evidence was graded using the GRADE.

Results: Sixteen cohorts, representing 3.882 HIV-HL patients, were included in this review. Our findings indicate that HIV-HL patients showed a 2-year overall survival (OS) of 92% (95% CI 0.87, 0.95). However, the 5-year overall survival decreased to 79% (95% CI 0.74, 0.83), with a high certainty of evidence according to GRADE. Additionally, the 5-year progression-free survival declined to 79% and complete remission rate increased to 81%. Our meta-analysis indicates an increase for B symptoms (80%, 95% CI 0.75, 0.84) and extranodal involvement in bone marrow (43%, 95% CI 0.30, 0.47) among HIV-HL patients.

Conclusion: The HIV-HL patients showed a 2-year OS of 92%. However, the 5-year OS decreased to 79%. The reported main cause of mortality among HIV-HL patients was progression of HL. Our systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that cART is associated with improved short-term survival of HIV-HL patients.