title: Whole blood Epstein-Barr virus DNA load as a diagnostic and prognostic surrogate: extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma.
abstract: We investigated the value of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA load in unfractionated whole blood for the diagnosis and prognosis of EBV-associated lymphoma. From July 2004 to July 2007, we compared EBV DNA loads in 101 patients with lymphoma and 105 control individuals. The median copy number of EBV was higher in patients with EBV-positive lymphoma (p<0.001). In patients with natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphomas, the median EBV DNA load at presentation was significantly related to the stage (p = 0.011) and response (p = 0.026). The newly proposed classification model for NK/T cell lymphoma showed EBV DNA load differed significantly between patients with upper and extra-upper aerodigestive tracts (p = 0.017). In 16 patients with NK/T-cell lymphoma monitored serially, EBV DNA load correlated well with the treatment response and clinical course. Further prospective studies are required to evaluate the diagnosing and monitoring role of whole blood EBV DNA for uniformly treated patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo Song
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyung Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyoung Ha
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Myung Hee
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Sang Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Do Hyoung
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Kihyun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seok Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Younghyeh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Chang-Seok
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Ki
authors.forename: Sook Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: Jae Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Won Seog
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Kim