In situ demonstration of Epstein-Barr virus small RNAs (EBER 1) in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related lymphomas: correlation with tumor morphology and primary site.
Some acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related lymphomas (ARLs) are infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), although the frequency and importance of this association is disputed. Using paraffin section RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) with digoxigenin-labeled riboprobes, we screened 16 central nervous system (CNS) non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs), 101 systemic NHLs, and 11 Hodgkin's disease cases arising in human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive individuals for EBV-encoded small RNA (EBER 1) expression, an EBV gene product transcribed in abundance during latent infection. Tumor cells contained EBV in 85 of 128 ARLs (66%), but infection rates differed with lymphoma type. EBER 1 was expressed in tumor cells in 11 of 11 Hodgkin's disease cases (100%), 15 of 16 CNS NHLs (94%), and 46 of 60 systemic immunoblast-rich/large-cell lymphomas (77%), but in only 12 of 35 Burkitt-type (small noncleaved cell) (34%) and 1 of 6 monomorphic centroblastic (diffuse large noncleaved cell) (17%) lymphomas. In most EBV-positive ARLs, all recognizable viable tumor cells expressed EBER 1. We conclude that (1) EBV infects tumor cells in all AIDS-related Hodgkin's disease cases, in virtually all primary CNS ARLs, and in most systemic immunoblast-rich/large-cell ARLs; (2) only a minority of Burkitt-type and monomorphic centroblastic lymphomas are associated with EBV; and (3) EBER-ISH is ideal for the histopathologic detection of latent EBV in routine tissue specimens.
Laboratory of Immunohistology, University Hospital, Kommunehospitalet, Aarhus, Denmark.
S J
SJ
Hamilton-Dutoit
M
M
Raphael
J
J
Audouin
J
J
Diebold
I
I
Lisse
C
C
Pedersen
E
E
Oksenhendler
L
L
Marelle
G
G
Pallesen
D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D004076:Digoxigenin; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D016483:Lymphoma, AIDS-Related / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology
D012367:RNA, Viral; D004076:Digoxigenin