Comparison of Epstein Barr virus presence in Hodgkin’s lymphoma between pediatric and adult Argentine patients.

DE MATTEO, E.; VIJNOVICH, A.; CHABAY, P.; PORTA, J.; DRAGOSKY, M.; MARIA VICTORIA PRECIADO

Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

Año: 2003 vol. 127 p. 1325 - 1329

0363-0153

Since HL is a heterogeneous condition with diverse histological and epidemiological subgroups, it seemed worthwhile to investigate the Argentine distribution pattern. Considerable evidence has pointed to an etiologic role for EBV, a ubiquitous herpesvirus associated with a number of lymphoid malignancies and certain epithelial tumors. We studied EBV presence by EBERs in situ hybridization in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded HL tissue samples from 92 pediatric patients from R.Gutiérrez Children’s Hospital, 42 adult patients from the M.Curie Hospital and 39 adult patients from Private Cytology and Pathology Center. In the pediatric group there were MC prevalence 48/92 (52%), meanwhile the adult group showed similar number of both NS 38/81 (47%) and MC 36/81 (44%) cases. 51/92 pediatric cases of HL were EBERs positive. Nonetheless, 25/81 (31%) of the adult cases were EBERs positive being 16/42 (38%) from the public hospital and 9/39 (23%) from the private center. EBV was present in 77% (37/48) of  CM pediatric cases compared with other histological subtypes (p<0.0002 Chi-square test). There was no significant difference in the frequency of EBV in adult HL histological subtypes (p< 0.2, Chi-square test), but EBV was mainly detected in MC cases (14/36, 39%). Our findings strengthen the argument that EBV is involved in the pathogenesis of an important proportion of HL in children aged £10 years and represent a rare complication of early EBV infection. The overall EBV positive cases along with both a childhood and a second decade peak and a comparable frequency of MC and NS distinguish our population from others representative of underdeveloped countries.