Antiphospholipid antibodies in lymphoma: prevalence and clinical significance.

To evaluate whether the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies in lymphoma patients influences their response to treatment, and their rate of thromboembolic complications, we followed up 100 consecutive patients with different lymphomas, who underwent measurement of lupus anticoagulants and anticardiolipin antibodies at diagnosis. In all, 27 patients had lupus anticoagulants and/or anticardiolipin antibodies. This prevalence was significantly higher than in a group of 100 age- and sex-matched normal control subjects (8%; P=0.0008, odds ratio 4.25, 95% confidence interval, 1.82-9.92). At diagnosis, antiphospholipid-positive and -negative patients were similar with respect to age, sex, type and staging of lymphomas. During follow-up, the rate of thrombosis was significantly higher in patients with (5.1% patients/year) than without (0.75% patients/year) antiphospholipid antibodies. The two groups were similar with respect to relapse and death rate. In conclusion, antiphospholipid antibodies are associated with lymphomas. Their determination is useful to identify patients at high risk to develop thrombotic complications, but not to predict treatment outcome or disease prognosis.

Hepatitis C virus and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas: an Italian multicenter case-control study.

The existence of an association between infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) remains controversial, largely because previous studies were based on prevalent case series or comparisons with less than optimal control groups. This hospital-based case-control study was conducted from January 1998 through February 2001 to evaluate the association between HCV infection and B-NHL of different types. Cases were consecutive patients with a new diagnosis of B-NHL; controls were patients from other departments of the same hospitals. Both groups were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire. The prevalence of HCV infection was calculated by histologic type of B-NHL and clinical behavior (indolent or aggressive). Adjusted odds ratio (OR) and HCV-attributable risk (AR) were estimated. HCV prevalence was 17.5% among the 400 lymphoma patients and 5.6% among the 396 controls. The OR of B-NHL (patients vs controls), adjusted by age, sex, level of education, and place of birth, was 3.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8-5.2); an OR indicative of positive association was found for indolent and aggressive B-NHL. The estimated AR was 4.6%. This study confirms an association between HCV and B-NHL. In Italy, 1 of 20 instances of B-NHL may be attributable to HCV infection and may, thus, benefit from antiviral treatment.