Prevalence of HIV seropositivity in patients with lymphoid malignancies in a tertiary centre in southern Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic has a significant impact worldwide and infected subjects are at increased risk of developing cancer. We aim to determine the HIV seropositivity of lymphoid malignant patients in a tertiary centre in Southern Nigeria. METHOD The course of disease in 275 patients with lymphoid malignant disorders at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria, was analysed from 1996 to 2006. Blood specimens screened for antibody to HIV infection were confirmed by Western blot and the CD4+ lymphocyte count was measured by flow cytometry technique. RESULTS A total of 275 patients aged 18-72 years were studied. Of the 275 lymphoid malignancies 11 cases were found to be HIV seropositive giving a seroprevalence of 4%. The most frequent lymphoid malignancy in association with HIV seropositivity was non-hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) with a prevalence of 4.12% over the less frequent lymphoid neoplasms. The overall median CD4+ lymphocyte count was 185 microl with 9 cases seropositive for HIV below 200 microl (P<0.0001). CONCLUSION We conclude that the seroprevalence of HIV infection in patients with lymphoid malignancies was 4% with NHL being the most common neoplasm associated with HIV infection in concordance with studies in the Diaspora.