Incidence of plasmablastic lymphoma in HIV positive and negative patients at a tertiary hospital in South Africa (2005-2017)

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate and describe the incidence of Plasmablastic Lymphoma (PBL) diagnosed at the Divisions of Anatomical Pathology and Haematopathology at Tygerberg Hospital from 2005 to 2017, and to ascertain a possible correlation with HIV infection, by identifying the number of HIV positive and negative patients diagnosed with Plasmablastic Lymphoma. Method: This was a retrospective study using the case records of all newly diagnosed PBL patients from 2005 to 2017. Results: Fifty-seven cases of PBL were diagnosed from 2005-2017. The overall result shows an increasing incidence of PBL in the intended period with the maximum incidence occurring in 2017. Most of the cases, 40.4%, were diagnosed in the age range 40-49-years. Forty-five patients were HIV-positive (78.9%) with (P value 0.011) and the majority of the patients were males (66.7%).