Background@#We analyzed
cell-free
serum Epstein‒Barr
virus (
EBV)
DNA to identify its prognostic
role in
patients with newly diagnosed
lymphoma. @*
Methods@#We retrospectively reviewed
patients diagnosed with
lymphoma between January 2014 and July 2020.
Patients were enrolled according to the following criteria i) pathologically confirmed
lymphomas according to the
World Health Organization criteria, ii) age over 18 years, iii)
serum EBV DNA measurement using
polymerase chain reaction prior to first-line
therapy, and iv) receipt of curative standard
chemotherapy. In total, 263
patients met these criteria and were included in this study. @*Results@#
Serum EBV DNA was detected in 79
patients (30.0%).
Patients with positive
serum EBV tended to be older (P =0.090), and the proportion of
T-cell lineage
lymphomas was higher than that of
B-cell lymphomas (P =0.003).
EBV positivity was significantly associated with more advanced
disease based on the Ann Arbor staging system (P =0.008) and the International Prognostic Index (P =0.009).
EBV positivity was also associated with higher
disease relapse (P =0.038) and death rates (P =0.005).
EBV-positive
lymphomas further showed inferior long-term
survival outcomes in terms of
progression-free survival (PFS) (P =0.053) and overall
survival (OS) (P =0.014). In the subgroup analyses,
serum EBV positivity was a significant
prognostic factor for
patients with B-
cell lineage lymphomas in terms of PFS (P =0.003) and OS (P =0.033). @*Conclusion@#We demonstrated that
cell-free
serum EBV DNA status at the
time of
diagnosis has potential as a prognostic
biomarker for
patients with newly diagnosed
malignant lymphomas.