Epstein-Barr virus-positivity in tumor has no correlation with the clinical outcomes of patients with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.
OBJECTIVE
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is involved in the pathogenesis of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AILT), but its precise role and prognostic impact are not clear. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of EBV-postitivity in the tumor and bone marrow (BM) samples from AILT patients, and their correlations with the clinical variables and patient survival.


METHODS
Seventy AILT cases were identified over a period of 8 years. Twenty seven cases were investigated for their EBV tumor status, and 10 BM samples of these patients were investigated for their EBV status with using in situ hybridization (ISH). EBV PCR was performed for the BM mononuclear cells in 8 cases.


RESULTS
Among the 27 tumor specimens, ten (37%) were EBV-positive. Only CD20-negativity in tumor correlated with the EBV-positivity (p = 0.035). In 13 (48%) patients, gross tumor involvement was recognized by hematoxylin-eosin staining at the time of diagnosis. Among the 10 patients who had additional BM slides available, there were 3 with BM involvement, and none showed EBV positive results on ISH. EBV PCR of the BM mononuclear cells revealed one-positive case among 8 patients. This patient was negative for both BM involvement and EBV ISH. The median overall survival of the 25 treated patients was 48.9 months (95% CI: 18.6 approximately 79.2 months). Neither overall survival nor progression-free survival was related with EBV-positivity of the tumor.


CONCLUSIONS
EBV-positivity of tumor had no impact on the prognosis of AILT patients.
Lee
Yuna
Y
Division of Hematology Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Inchon, Korea.
Lee
Keun-Wook
KW
Kim
Jee-Hyun
JH
Bang
Soo-Mee
SM
Lee
Jong Seok
JS
Park
Byeong-Bae
BB
Kim
Won Seok
WS
Suh
Cheolwon
C
Kang
Jung Hun
JH
Ryoo
Baek Yeol
BY
Lee
Jae Hoon
JH
Shin
Dong Bok
DB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000821:virology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007119:Immunoblastic Lymphadenopathy / Q000401:mortality / Q000821:virology*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D016399:Lymphoma, T-Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis
D004279:DNA, Viral