title: Association between Epstein-Barr virus and Hodgkin's lymphoma in Belgium: a pathological and virological study.
abstract: The association between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) varies according to the geographic location. In this work we sought to characterize EBV involvement in a series of 111 cHL cases diagnosed in Belgium. The overall prevalence of EBV infection detected by in situ hybridization in Reed-Sternberg cells was 33%. EBV positivity correlated with older age at diagnosis (>54 years; p = 0.01), mixed cellularity subtype (p = 0.000001), male gender (p = 0.004) and tended to be associated with higher clinical stage (III/IV; p = 0.02). The molecular features of the virus in EBV-positive cHL were studied by comparison with a series of reactive tonsils. A 30-bp deletion within the LMP-1 gene was in 15/28 (53.6%) EBV-positive cHL cases, and in 41.7% of reactive tonsil samples. This variant did not correlate with any clinical or pathological feature. The EBV strain was type A in all cHL and reactive samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, CHU Farhat-Hached of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Mounir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trimèche
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bonnet
authors.forename: Sadok
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Korbi
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boniver
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Leval
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D016539:Reed-Sternberg Cells / Q000821:virology; D012307:Risk Factors; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C037662:EBV-associated membrane antigen, Epstein-Barr virus; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins