Concurrent infectious mononucleosis and acute leukemia

EB-virus-specific IgM and IgG antibodies in first-degree relatives of children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

“…These findings may represent an abnormal host response or they may be more directly related to the leukaemic process. Infection with EB virus, possibly via blood transfusion (Gerber et al, 1969), is well recognized during the course of ALL (Lampkin, Canales, and Mauer, 1967;Ragab and Vietti, 1969;Deardorff, Gerber, and Vogler, 1970;Stevens et al, 1971) and the possibility of maternal infection from their children cannot be discounted. Nevertheless, many children with newly diagnosed leukaemia have evidence of prior infection (Sutton et al, 1974b) and it seems unlikely that the excess of recent infections in the mothers can be entirely coincidental.…”

TEN CASES OF SO‐CALLED LONG SURVIVAL IN CHlLDREN WITH ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA

“…The cases under consideration were characterized by low WBC and low blast-cell counts in the peripheral reported (5-9, 11, 12, 14-17, 19,[23][24][25][26].…”

The EB virus in relation to infectious mononucleosis

“…These observations chime well with our present knowledge linking the EB virus with Burkitt's lymphoma and with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and the connexion with infectious mononucleosis is thought-provoking. Clinical infectious mononucleosis bears no patent relationship with malignant disease although, rarely, it may be followed by Burkitt's tumour (Cohen, Hirshaut, Stevens, Hull, Davis, and Carbone, 1970) or by Hodgkin's disease (English, 1970 virus antibody titres have been observed (Levine, Ablashi, Berard, Carbone, and Waggoner, 1970;Johansson, Klein, Henle, and Henle, 1970) and Reed-Sternberg-like cells have been observed in infectious mononucleosis (Lukes, Tindle, and Parker, 1969;McMahon, Gordon, and Rosen, 1970) Although there has been speculation that infectious mononucleosis is 'an atypical form of acute leukaemia with a self-limiting course' (Dameshek and Gunz, 1964), EB virus studies have not supported this and concurrent infectious mononucleosis and acute leukaemia is not uncommon (Lampkin, Canales and Mauer, 1967;Deardorff, Gerber, and Vogler, 1970;Ragab and Vietti, 1969;Stevens, Levine, Lee, Sonley, and Waggoner, 1971).…”