ABSTRACT
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is a haematological malignancy with various etiological factors and one among them is Epstein Barr Virus. The expression of Epstein-Barr virus in Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be identified by immunohistochemistry for detection of Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein (LMP-1). In our study, we are trying to clarify the extent of expression LMP-1 in our population. This can be used as a prognostic marker and for therapeutic interventions targeting EBV encoded proteins. We wanted to determine the proportion of LMP1 (EBV marker) expression in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and evaluate the association of LMP1 expression in B cell and T cell type of NHL.METHODSThis is a cross sectional analytical study conducted at Department of Pathology, Govt. Medical College, Kottayam, from December 2017 to May 2019. A total of 67 cases were studied. All of them were histopathologically diagnosed Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma specimens received in the Department of Pathology, Govt. Medical College, Kottayam, during the study period of 18 months. NHL was subtyped into B cell type and T cell type. LMP-1 immunohistochemistry was done on all cases to assess its expression. Then analysis was done using SPSS software and strength of association between LMP 1 positivity and cell type was calculated using Chi square test and Fisher’s exact test.RESULTSMean age of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is 57.82 +/- 7.4 in this study. Minimum age is 2 years and maximum age is 89 years. The present study had 10.4 % LMP 1 positive cases. Of which there were 6% moderately stained positive cases, 3% of weakly stained cases and 1.5% cases of intensely stained cases. Among NHL 86.6% cases were B cell lymphoma and 13.4% cases of T cell lymphoma. And they had a LMP 1 positivity of 10.3% and 11.1 % respectively. But there was no significant association between LMP 1 positivity and cell type according to our study.CONCLUSIONSThe present study was done to determine the proportion of LMP 1 expression in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and to find out whether there is any association between LMP1 expression in B cell and T cell type of NHL. LMP 1 was positive in 10.4% of NHL and there was no association between LMP 1 positivity in B cell and T cell Lymphoma. This suggest that EBV might play a role in pathogenesis of NHL.