title: Hepatitis C infection and risk of malignant lymphoma.
abstract: The association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and risk of malignant lymphoma remains controversial, perhaps due to small-sized studies and low prevalence of HCV in the general population. On the basis of a large Danish-Swedish population-based case-control study, 2,819 lymphoma patients and 1,856 controls of second-generation Danish-Swedish origin were screened for HCV infection using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a confirming recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) test. Positive samples were tested with real-time PCR for the presence of HCV RNA. The association between HCV infection and risk of malignant lymphoma was assessed by logistic regression. When intermediate RIBA test results were interpreted as positive, anti-HCV antibody positivity was associated with a nonsignificant increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) overall (odds ratio (OR) = 2.2; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.9-5.3; n = 20 cases), of B-cell lymphomas combined (OR = 2.4 [1.0-5.8]; n = 20) and of lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (OR = 5.2 [1.0-26.4]; n = 2). No patients with T-cell or Hodgkin lymphoma were HCV-positive. A more conservative definition of HCV positivity (disregarding intermediate RIBA results) resulted in an OR = 1.6 (0.3-8.5; n = 5) for NHL overall. When the definition was further restricted to require HCV RNA positivity, OR was 1.7 (0.2-16.2; n = 3) for NHL overall. Our findings from a population with a low prevalence of HCV suggest a positive association between HCV and risk of NHL, in particular of B-cell origin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. cko@ssi.dk
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schöllkopf
authors.forename: Karin Ekström
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Smedby
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hjalgrim
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rostgaard
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Panum
authors.forename: Lasse
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vinner
authors.forename: Ellen T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Glimelius
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Porwit
authors.forename: Christer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sundström
authors.forename: Mads
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Hans-Olov
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Adami
authors.forename: Mads
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Melbye
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D016483:Lymphoma, AIDS-Related / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D008258:Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral