CONDITIONS WE TREAT: CNS Lymphoma

A central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma is a primary intracranial tumor appearing mostly in patients with severe immunosuppression (e.g. patients with AIDS). CNS lymphomas represent around 20% of all cases of lymphomas in HIV infections.

In immunocompetent patients (that is, patients who do not have AIDS or some other immunodeficiency), there is rarely an association with EBV infection or other DNA viruses. In the immunocompetent population, CNS lymphomas typically appear in older patients in their 50's and 60's. Importantly, the incidence of CNS Lymphoma in the immunocompetent population has been reported to have increased more than 10-fold from 2.5 cases to 30 cases per 10 million population.

The cause for the increase in incidence of this disease in the immunocompetent population is unknown.