Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of chronic hepatitis virus infection [HCV] in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [B-cell NHL]. This controlled, cross sectional study included 30 patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [B-cell NHL], 30 patients with malignant hematologic neoplesia other than B-cell NHL [control group I] and 30 patients randomly selected from general medical patients and healthy blood donors with non-malignant conditions [control group II]. All study populations were tested for antibodies to HCV by using a second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [Anti-HCV EIA II]. Positive and indeterminate results were subjected to confirmatory testing using RLBA-hepatitis C virus [recombinant-based immunoblot assay- RIBA II]. Hepatitis C virus RNA was detected by a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR] assay. The results of this study indicated a higher prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma than in the control groups. The prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in the two control groups, in turn, seems to fall within the estimated prevalence in the general population. These results raise the possibility for a subslantial role of chronic HCV infection in the aetiopathology of non Hodgkin's lymphoma