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. 2022 Nov 1;44(8):e1033-e1038.
doi: 10.1097/MPH.0000000000002403. Epub 2022 Jan 28.

Epstein-Barr Virus in Childhood and Adolescent Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma in a French Cohort of 301 Patients

Victor Pereira  1 , Sabah Boudjemaa  2 , Caroline Besson  3 , Thierry Leblanc  4   5 , Charlotte Rigaud  6 , Amaury Leruste  7 , Nathalie Garnier  8 , Anne Lambilliotte  9 , Matthieu Simonin  10 , Catherine Curtillet  11 , Jacinthe Bonneau-Lagacherie  12 , Aurore Coulomb  13 , Judith Landman-Parker  14
Affiliations

Epstein-Barr Virus in Childhood and Adolescent Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma in a French Cohort of 301 Patients

Victor Pereira et al. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. .

Abstract

Objective: The aim was to analyze the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the bioclinical characteristics of patients treated for classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) in France.

Methods: Biopathologic data of 301 patients treated for a cHL in/or according to the EuroNet PHL-C1 trial between November 2008 and February 2013 were centrally reviewed.

Results: Median age at diagnosis was 14 (3 to 18) years and the F/M ratio 0.86, 0.47 before 10 years and 0.9 from 11 to 18. CHL subtypes were nodular sclerosis for 266/301 (88%) patients, mixed cellularity for 22/301 (7%), lymphocyte rich for 2/301 (1%), and 11/301 were unclassified. EBV positivity by in situ hybridization was observed for 68/301 (23%) patients, significantly associated with mixed cellularity subtype and male sex, particularly overrepresented in boys below 10 years: 15/23 (65%) versus 28/139 among other male patients (20%). EBV viral load was detectable in 22 of 108 (22%) tested cases and was overrepresented in EBV cHL (13/28) versus non-EBV cHL (9/80) patients. Detailed semiquantitative histologic analysis showed a high number of B-cell residual follicles in EBV cHL relative to EBV-negative HL.

Conclusion: Distribution of EBV cHL in children and adolescents is associated with young age and male sex, suggesting a specific physiopathology and may require a differential therapeutic approach.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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