Prospective study of hepatitis C viral infection as a risk factor for subsequent B-cell neoplasia.
Several case-control studies have found increased prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and other B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders. We examined whether HCV infection preceded the development of these neoplasms in a prospective cohort study of 48 420 individuals in northern California. Stored sera from 95 subjects with NHL (n = 57), multiple myeloma (n = 24), or Hodgkin disease (n = 14) diagnosed a mean of 21 years after phlebotomy were screened for antibodies to HCV as well as viral RNA, based on previous reports of antibody-negative viremia. Sera from 4 cases and one of 95 age-, sex-, and race-matched controls were repeatedly reactive by enzyme immunoassay, but none were confirmed by recombinant immunoblot assay; none of the case sera had HCV RNA by reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction. Although acquisition in later life cannot be ruled out, these prospective data do not support a substantial role of chronic HCV infection in the etiology of B-cell neoplasia.
Rabkin
Charles S
CS
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20852, USA. rabkinc@mail.nih.gov
Tess
Beatriz H
BH
Christianson
Roberta E
RE
Wright
William E
WE
Waters
David J
DJ
Alter
Harvey J
HJ
Van Den Berg
Bea J
BJ
D015331:Cohort Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies