Intraoral non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in seven patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

Since the appearance of AIDS, there has been a significant increase in the number of cases of oral non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Rarely seen in the oral cavity before, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is now seen with some frequency in HIV-positive patients. Oral HIV-related lymphomas exhibit an aggressive course and can mimic other oral tumors and infections, which makes early recognition and diagnosis important and difficult. We report on the clinical findings in seven homosexual men in whom the oral cavity was the first site in which non-Hodgkin's lymphoma appeared and the only site involved at the time of diagnosis. Treatment consisted of chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy. The relatively short survival in these patients averaged 8 months. All patients died of complications from their tumor.