Hello, HIV Positive and on HAART with T-Cells just under 400 and and VL at 70, I have just been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, High Grade, B Cell. Looking at CHOP-R therapy possibly followed by stem cell or bone marrow transplant. I know we need an aggressive course of therapy, and what is yur reaction to this approach? You have the best HIV website around. Thanks for the good work. Gary

Dear Gary, The good news about your lymphoma is that it is very treatable. I have many many patients who are long term survivors. There are several different treatment regimens with good track records. I too use CHOP-R, the one that is recommended to you, for patients in your CD4 cell bracket. (I'm a bit more reluctant to use Rituxan in patients with low CD4 cell counts). CHOP-R contains Rituxan, Cytoxan, Adriamycin, Vincristine, and Prednisone. Typically we give it 6 times. Plase note that I do NOT recommend stem cell or bone marrow transplant for most patients like you. Is there something in your history/story which I'm missing that would have lead to your oncologist to make such a recommendation? There are simply not enough data to support transplant in your setting, and most of the patients with your disease do well without a transplant. Good luck. You hopefully will do quite well.