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. 2008 Mar;23(1):30-6.
doi: 10.3904/kjim.2008.23.1.30.

Epstein-Barr virus-positivity in tumor has no correlation with the clinical outcomes of patients with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma

Yuna Lee  1 , Keun-Wook Lee, Jee-Hyun Kim, Soo-Mee Bang, Jong Seok Lee, Byeong-Bae Park, Won Seok Kim, Cheolwon Suh, Jung Hun Kang, Baek Yeol Ryoo, Jae Hoon Lee, Dong Bok Shin
Affiliations

Epstein-Barr virus-positivity in tumor has no correlation with the clinical outcomes of patients with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma

Yuna Lee et al. Korean J Intern Med. 2008 Mar.

Abstract

Background/aims: 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.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier curves for overall (solid line) and progression free survival (dotted line) for the 25 treated patients with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (A). Comparison of the overall survival (B) and progression-free survival (C) between the patients with bone marrow involvement (solid line) and those without BM involvement (dotted line)
Figure 2
Figure 2
In situ hybridization for EBV in the bone marrow biopsies. Positive staining for EBV in a case with NK/T-cell leukemia (A), and negative staining in a patient with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (B)
Figure 3
Figure 3
PCR analysis showed the EBV-specific DNA sequences. The EBV DNA was detected in the BM mononuclear cells of one patient (white arrow in line 8). Lines 1~8 are for the BM samples of the angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma cases, lines 9~10 are for the BM samples of NK/T-cell lymphoma cases, and line 11 is for the positive control in the EBV PCR kit (240 base pairs)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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