ABSTRACT
Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is a well-recognized complication of organ transplant and has been associated with high mortality using conventional chemotherapy. We have investigated 11 cases of PTLD for alterations to the interferon alpha (IFNA) and p16 genes on chromosome 9p using archival material. 4/9 (44%) cases had deletions of the IFNA genes, in contrast to 1/59 (1.7%) cases of intermediate/high-grade de novo NHL drawn from the same geographical region. PTLD may therefore represent a distinct NHL subgroup exhibiting distinct gene pathology.
Subject(s)
Chromosomes, Human, Pair 9/genetics , Gene Deletion , Heart Transplantation/adverse effects , Interferon-alpha/genetics , Kidney Transplantation/adverse effects , Lung Transplantation/adverse effects , Lymphoma/genetics , Genes, myc , Genes, p16 , HumansABSTRACT
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a recently described and important cause of acute and chronic liver disease. A hallmark of HCV is its propensity to become chronic, some patients with chronic HCV progressing to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCV is also lymphotrophic and we report 2 patients with HCV cirrhosis who developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL). These cases raise the possibility that chronic HCV infection of lymphocytes plays an aetiological role in this malignancy. However screening of a further 63 consecutive patients over the age of 50 years with NHL for HCV antibody by second generation enzyme linked immunoassay (ELISA) failed to identify any patients with evidence of HCV infection. This suggests that HCV is an uncommon contributory factor for the development of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the United Kingdom.
