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Meta-Analysis
. 2008 Apr;6(4):451-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2008.02.011.

Hepatitis C and non-Hodgkin lymphoma among 4784 cases and 6269 controls from the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium

Silvia de Sanjose  1 , Yolanda Benavente, Claire M Vajdic, Eric A Engels, Lindsay M Morton, Paige M Bracci, John J Spinelli, Tongzhang Zheng, Yawei Zhang, Silvia Franceschi, Renato Talamini, Elizabeth A Holly, Andrew E Grulich, James R Cerhan, Patricia Hartge, Wendy Cozen, Paolo Boffetta, Paul Brennan, Marc Maynadié, Pierluigi Cocco, Ramon Bosch, Lenka Foretova, Anthony Staines, Nikolaus Becker, Alexandra Nieters
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Hepatitis C and non-Hodgkin lymphoma among 4784 cases and 6269 controls from the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium

Silvia de Sanjose et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2008 Apr.

Abstract

Background & aims: Increasing evidence points towards a role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in causing malignant lymphomas. We pooled case-control study data to provide robust estimates of the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) subtypes after HCV infection.

Methods: The analysis included 7 member studies from the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium (InterLymph) based in Europe, North America, and Australia. Adult cases of NHL (n = 4784) were diagnosed between 1988 and 2004 and controls (n = 6269) were matched by age, sex, and study center. All studies used third-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to test for antibodies against HCV in serum samples. Participants who were human immunodeficiency virus positive or were organ-transplant recipients were excluded.

Results: HCV infection was detected in 172 NHL cases (3.60%) and in 169 (2.70%) controls (odds ratio [OR], 1.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.40-2.25). In subtype-specific analyses, HCV prevalence was associated with marginal zone lymphoma (OR, 2.47; 95% CI, 1.44-4.23), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (OR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.68-2.99), and lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (OR, 2.57; 95% CI, 1.14-5.79). Notably, risk estimates were not increased for follicular lymphoma (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.65-1.60).

Conclusions: These results confirm the association between HCV infection and NHL and specific B-NHL subtypes (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, marginal zone lymphoma, and lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma).

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of antibodies against HCV among NHL cases and their respective controls by study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk estimates for lymphoma sub-types associated with HCV by study. SLL/CLL, small-cell lymphocytic lymphoma/chronic lymphocytic leukemia. (1) Heterogeneity test: χ2 = 11.69; df = 6; P = .07. (2) Heterogeneity test: χ2 = 0.90; df = 3; P = .83. (3) Heterogeneity test: χ2 = 8.96; df = 6; P = .03. (4) Heterogeneity test: χ2 = 4.80; df = 6; P = .31. (5) Heterogeneity test: χ2 = 7.79; df = 4; P = .10. †OR and 95% CI obtained from the polytomous unconditional logistic regression using a joint fixed-effects model adjusted for age, sex, race, and study center.
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