title: High Viral Loads of Epstein-Barr Virus DNA in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Associated with Unfavorable Prognosis.
abstract: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous γ-herpesvirus that infects more than 90% of the world population. The potential involvement of EBV in the clinical course of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) remains unexplained. The aim of this study was to determine whether EBV-DNA load in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of CLL patients may influence heterogeneity in the course of the disease. The study included peripheral blood samples from 115 previously untreated patients with CLL (54 women and 61 men) and 40 healthy controls (16 women and 24 men). We analyzed the association between the EBV-DNA load in PBMCs and the stage of the disease, adverse prognostic factors, and clinical outcome. Detectable numbers of EBV-DNA copies in PBMCs were found in 62 out of 115 CLL patients (53.91%). The EBV-DNA copy number/μg DNA was significantly higher in patients who required early implementation of treatment, presented with lymphocyte count doubling time <12 months, displayed CD38-positive or ZAP-70-positive phenotype, and with the del(11q22.3) cytogenetic abnormality. Furthermore, the EBV-DNA copy number/μg DNA showed significant positive correlation with the concentrations of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and beta-2-microglobulin. We have shown that in CLL patients, higher EBV-DNA copy number predicted shorter survival and shorter time to disease progression, and it was associated with other established unfavorable prognostic factors. This suggests that EBV may negatively affect the outcome of CLL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapy, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland; St. John's Cancer Center, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewelina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grywalska
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapy, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland; St. John's Cancer Center, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roliński
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Holycross Cancer Center, Kielce, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pasiarski
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Izabela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Korona-Glowniak
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapy, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maj
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapy, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland; St. John's Cancer Center, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Agata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Surdacka
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapy, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland; St. John's Cancer Center, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grafka
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Holycross Cancer Center, Kielce, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stelmach-Gołdyś
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapy, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zgurski
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Holycross Cancer Center, Kielce, Poland; Faculty of Health Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland.
authors.forename: Stanisław
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Góźdź
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malm
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunohematology, Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grabarczyk
authors.affiliation: St. John's Cancer Center, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Elżbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Starosławska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000821:virology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral