Hepatitis C virus infection among patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in northern India

Abstract

Background and aim Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been postulated to be an etiological agent for lymphoid malignancies. Whereas a high prevalence of HCV infection in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients has been shown to exist in many geographical areas of high HCV prevalence, studies from other parts have not established any form of association. In India, there is a scarcity of data to show either a positive or a negative association between NHL and HCV infection. Therefore, we determined the prevalence of HCV infection in patients with NHL. Methods A total of 228 subjects were included, out of which, the number of newly diagnosed consecutive patients with lymphoproliferative disorders (NHL and CLL) were 57 [mean age, 48.7 years (range: 18-80)] and the control group consisted of 171 subjects [mean age, 48.6 years (range: 18-80)]. We used third generation enzyme immunoassay to detect HCV antibodies. HCV RNA was detected by nested RT-PCR. Results Among the 57 patients of NHL, 44 (77.2%) had high-grade disease (diffuse large B cell), 6 (10.5%) intermediate-grade (follicular lymphoma), and 7 (12.3%) lowgrade (small lymphocytic); 26 patients had B symptoms at diagnosis. None of the patient tested positive for antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) while 1 patient (1.75%) tested positive for HCV RNA. Among the age-and sexmatched controls, 2 (1.17%) subjects tested positive for anti-HCV; both were also positive for HCV RNA. Conclusions HCV infection is unlikely to be associated with lymphoproliferative disorders in northern India and does not play a major role in the pathogenesis of lymphoproliferative disorders.

Pesticide exposure as a risk factor for lymphoproliferative disorders in adults

“…In contrast, other studies, conducted in France (36), Canada (37) and India (38,39), found no or weak association between HCV infection and subtypes of NHL. These studies were limited by small sample sizes and In our study, we observed that the risk of having lymphoproliferative disorders was greater with HCV infection (OR = 2.67) than with pesticides exposure (OR= 2.24).…”

Clinical and Epidemiologic Study of Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 4 Infection among Patients with B cell non Hodgkin's Lymphoma

“…HCV association with B cell NHL is still a matter of debate, no association between HCV infection and B cell NHL was found [8,9]. Most of the studies that failed to find an association of HCV with B cell NHL were conducted in areas where the prevalence of HCV is extremely low; leaving open the possibility that such an association actually exists but could not be detected because neither cases nor controls had adequate opportunity for exposure to the virus [10].…”

“…Most of the studies reported to date failed to find an association of HCV with NHL were conducted in areas where the prevalence of HCV was extremely low, leaving open the possibility that such an association actually exists but could not be detected because neither cases nor controls had adequate opportunity for exposure [8,9,10]. Working in a population with high prevalence of HCV allowed us to conduct a casecontrol study with adequate statistical power to assess the question of whether there is an association of chronic HCV infection with NHL [11].…”

Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Viral Infections in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

“…B oth the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (1)(2)(3). In support of this hypothesis are: epidemiological data describing associations between each virus and other hematological malignancies; the presence of viral replicative intermediates in peripheral blood mononuclear cells; and findings that each virus encodes for proteins with oncogenic potential (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). However, studies specifically designed to document the prevalence of HBV and/or HCV in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia are limited and have reported variable results (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22).…”