Whole blood Epstein-Barr virus DNA load as a diagnostic and prognostic surrogate: extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma.
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.
Kim
Hyo Song
HS
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
Kyung Hee
KH
Kim
Kyoung Ha
KH
Chang
Myung Hee
MH
Ji
Sang Hoon
SH
Lim
Do Hyoung
DH
Kim
Kihyun
K
Kim
Seok Jin
SJ
Ko
Younghyeh
Y
Ki
Chang-Seok
CS
Jo
Sook Jung
SJ
Lee
Jae Won
JW
Kim
Won Seog
WS