Epstein-Barr Virus in Patients with Classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Abstract

Background. A close relationship between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cHL) has been established in approximately 1/3 patients. EBV-positive lymphomas are characterized by increased level of EBV specific antibodies emerging long before tumor symptoms, аs well as a high plasma EBV DNA concentration. These viral markers normally correlate with clinical manifestations and the outcome of treatment performed. In patients with EBV-negative lymphomas, however, there has been no attempt to assess the clinical significance of either humoral response to EBV or EBV DNA concentration in plasma. Aim. To evaluate diagnostic and prognostic significance of EBV markers in patients with EBV-negative lymphomas. Methods. The clinical trial included 13 cHL-patients admitted at the Department of chemotherapy of hemoblastoses of NN Blokhin National Medical Cancer Research Center. The male to female ratio was 1: 1.3, the median age was 26.4 years. Leukocyte and lymphocyte counts were evaluated in all the patients before, during, and after treatment as well as throughout the follow-up period. The same indicators were analysed in the control group which contained 80 healthy persons (with the median age of 29.4 years, male to female ratio 1.5: 1). The study was based on serologic test for EBV antibodies and quantitative analysis of the viral DNA copy number in plasma. Results. The obtained data show a low immunie response to EBV and its diminishment after several polychemotherapy treatment cycles, correlating with decreased leukocyte and lymphocyte levels. As opposed to levels of virus-specific antibodies which do not reflect the efficacy of anticancer therapy, plasma EBV DNA concentration in 2 patients decreased to 0 after remission had been achieved. Conclusion. Although the number of observations is limited, one could suggest that viral load values in plasma of patients with EBV-negative lymphomas can prove to be a useful marker of anticancer therapeutic effect. Additional studies of these markers are required.

Non-accidental structural chromosome aberrations in established monkey B-lymphocyte cell lines

“…After that, individuals become asymptomatic EBV carriers. The exact mechanism of EBV cancer induction is still unknown, though increased titers of EBV antibodies, high content of viral DNA in blood plasma of patients, and monoclonality of viral genome in giant Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin's lymphoma shows the role of the virus in tumour development (Gurtsevitch et al, 2018). It was found, that in Burkitt lymphoma, which is non-Hodgkin's one, the viral protein Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) is expressed; proteins EBNA-1, LMP-1, and LMP-2 are expressed in diffuse large Bcell lymphoma, in NK/T cell lymphoma, and Hodgkin's lymphoma; nine EBV proteins are expressed in patients with heavy immunodeficiency (after organ transplantation or HIV infection) (Shannon-Lowe et al, 2017).…”