title: Hepatitis C viral infection is not associated with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia.
abstract: While a familial predisposition may exist in up to 20% of patients with Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia (WM), the precipitating cause of this B-cell malignancy remains unknown in most patients. In previous studies, an association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and WM has been suggested as etiological. This relationship has been the subject of debate, however, with some studies demonstrating increased incidence of HCV infection among WM patients and other studies showing no such association exists. This discordance might be attributable to the analytical method used, HCV antibody detection, which might be ineffective in patients with immunosuppression. We therefore analyzed the prevalence of HCV in a large population of WM patients utilizing both an HCV antibody detection immunoassay as well as qualitative polymerase chain reaction assay to directly detect HCV presence in serum samples. None of 100 randomly tested WM patients in this study tested positive for HCV by either analytical method. Our results therefore demonstrate a lack of association between HCV and WM.
authors.affiliation: Bing Center for Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Leleu
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: Allen W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Daniel D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Evdoxia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hatjiharissi
authors.forename: Anne-Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Branagan
authors.forename: Zachary R
authors.initials: ZR
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Dimmock
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soumerai
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ghobrial
authors.forename: Steven P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Treon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D008258:Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral