title: Detection of Epstein-Barr virus and HTLV-I in T-cell lymphomas of skin in Taiwan.
abstract: Viral etiology has been associated with the pathogenesis of T-cell lymphomas of skin (TCLS). Therefore, we studied the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and type I human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV-I) in tumor cells of TCLS to determine the significance of these viruses with the disease. A retrospective study was conducted on the skin tissues from 28 Chinese patients with TCLS. We used in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and polymerase chain reaction to determine the presence of viruses. Among the 28 cases, HTLV-I was only detected in two cases with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, not in other cases of TCLS. This suggests that HTLV-I may not play a significant role in the oncogenesis of TCLS in Chinese patients. Conversely, EBV was detected in 12 cases (42.9%), including the secondary TCLS, large cell lymphoma, mycosis fungoides, adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, and angiocentric lymphoma. Nevertheless, latent membrane protein 1 was not detected in any of the EBV-positive cases. Neither was any correlation found between the presence of EBV in TCLS and the prognosis or the severity of the skin lesion. Although there is a close association of EBV with a portion of TCLS, its pathogenic role needs further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: H N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chow
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D016399:Lymphoma, T-Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral