title: Host ethnicity influences non-Hodgkin's lymphoma subtype frequency and Epstein-Barr virus association rate: the experience of a multi-ethnic patient population in Malaysia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The pattern of malignant lymphoma is known to vary in different populations. This study aims to elucidate the effect of ethnicity on subtype frequency of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and EBV association rate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 232 reconfirmed lymphoma cases in Malaysian patients were retrieved from the archives in the Department of Pathology, University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. There were 24 (10%) Hodgkin's and 208 (90%) non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, 173 of the latter were in adult group (aged > or = 15 years). The ethnic composition were 41 Malays, 107 Chinese, 21 Indians and four none of the above. A male : female ratio of 2.4 : 1 was observed. Complete immunohistochemical studies in 158 cases revealed 36 (23%) T-cell, 121 (76%) B-cell and one (1%) null-cell phenotype. Seventy-five percent of the T-cell lymphomas were peripheral T/NK-cell types. Among the classifiable lesions, low-grade/indolent lymphomas constituted 17%: 2% were the lymphocytic subtype and 10% were follicular lymphomas. Approximately one-third of the follicular lymphomas occurred in Indian patients. The largest group of high-grade lymphoma was diffuse large B-cell type (46%), followed by peripheral T/NK-cell (18%). A predominance of NK/T-cell lymphomas occurred in Chinese (5/7), and all were EBV associated. Burkitt's lymphoma accounted for 5% (eight cases), all were Chinese males, with a 38% EBV-association rate. The frequency of EBV-associated B-cell lymphoma is three times more common in Chinese than Malays. The EBV positivity rate among lymphomas in ethnic Malay, Chinese and Indian patients was 5%, 15% and 22%, respectively, and in T- and B-cell lymphomas was 36% and 7%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This Malaysian series reveals differences in the subtype frequencies of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and EBV association rate amongst patients of various ethnic groups residing in the same environment.
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors: S C
authors: SC
authors: Peh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000208:ethnology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000821:virology; D016399:Lymphoma, T-Cell / Q000208:ethnology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral