EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS IN NON-HODGKINS-LYMPHOMAS AND LYMPHOID-TISSUE IN CHILDREN

In developed countries the majority of adolescent children show serolo gical evidence of past Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. This virus is associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in immunocompromised childr en, but the relationship of EBV DNA to these tumors in children withou t documented immunodeficiency has not been investigated by the polymer ase chain reaction (PCR). We wed a PCR method with pimers from the Bam W and Bam HI regions to study non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in children, wi th tonsillar tissue of age-matched children as controls for the presen ce of EBV DNA. Six of the 20 tonsils were positive wing the Bam W prim ers; another four showed this DNA with Pam HI primers. EBV DNA was det ected in only one tumor (a lymphoblastic lymphoma) by both primer sets . The demonstration of EBV DNA in the tonsils reflects past infections and the incidence is in accordance with that expected from serologic epidemiological studies. The absence of demonstrable EBV DNA in 19 lym phomas suggests that this virus is of little consequence in the pathog enesis ofnon-Hodgkin 's lymphomas in children who are not known to be immunocompromised. The lymphoblastic lymphoma had a mixed cell populat ion, and the virus was not necessarily related to the malignancy.