Integration of HIV-1 Caused STAT3-Associated B Cell Lymphoma in an AIDS Patient

B cell lymphomas remain a significant cause of morbidity in AIDS but the pathophysiology of this disease is unclear. We report a case of B cell lymphoma in which HIV-1 integrated into the host genome. The lymphoma cells with anaplastic large cell morphology formed multiple nodular lesions in the lung of a homosexual AIDS patient. The lymphoma cells did not express KSHV-LANA and EBV-EBER or HIV-1 p24 but did express high levels of nuclear localized STAT3. The provirus had a 5'LTR deletion and the 3'LTR was inserted just before the first coding exon of STAT3. Reporter gene assay demonstrated that the 3'LTR had a strong promoter activity especially when co-transfected with HIV Tat. These data suggest HIV-1 integration resulted in induction of STAT3 and possibly promoted lymphoma formation. This suggests that HIV-1 insertional mutagenesis may be associated with some cases of AIDS lymphoma.