referring to the man's question about whether or not to begin haart while on chemo for NHL:

what ever happened to the approach of begining haart before chemo with the idea that it would melt the cancer away without even the need for chemo? i've seen that said before here on thebody website, and to me, in some ways it made a hiv positive NHL diagnosis seem better than an hiv negative one. this being because in the hiv positive person's case, the cause for the lymphoma is more likely identifiable and addressed than with someone who has NHL for genetic or other unknown reasons.

any thoughts?

Your are correct that effective HIV therapy can be beneficial in patients with lymphoma but I am unaware of HAART alone 'melting' away non-Hodgkin's lymphoma either of the brain or elsewhere and I have even seen progression of the lymphoma despite aggressive HIV therapy.

I think a combined approach is prudent with the question of the timing of therapy something that the HIV doc, oncologist and patient need to discuss.

Thanks

DW