Assessment of Epstein-Barr virus association with pediatric non-hodgkin lymphoma in immunocompetent and in immunocompromised patients in Argentina.

Abstract

Abstract Context.—Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been classically associated with 3 malignancies, Burkitt lymphoma, B-cell lymphoproliferative syndromes, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and more recently with Hodgkin disease, T-cell lymphomas, and gastric and breast carcinomas, as well as with leiomyosarcoma and leiomyoma associated with immunosuppression. Objective.—To compare EBV expression in Argentine tumor samples with those reported elsewhere, we analyzed EBV expression in an Argentine pediatric population with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and correlated these results with clinical course and outcome. Methods.—We studied EBV presence by latent membrane protein-1 protein labeling by immunohistochemistry, by in situ hybridization, and by polymerase chain reaction for Epstein-Barr–encoded RNAs (EBERs) in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded non-Hodgkin lymphoma tissue samples (collected retrospectively) from 32 pediatric patients at Ricardo Gutierrez Children's Hospital from 1993 to 2000. Results.—Eight out of the...