We previously showed that treatment of patients with AIDS-associated NHL (AIDS-NHL) enrolled in the AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) 034 trial (AMC-034), which involved treatment with rituximab plus infusional EPOCH chemotherapy, resulted in decreased plasma levels of several B cell activation-associated molecules, such as IL-6, IL-10, CXCL13, sCD27, and sCD30, where reduced plasma levels persisted for one year after the completion of treatment16. Here, IL6 is linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma.