PRIMARY EFFUSION BURKITTS-LYMPHOMA WITH T(8-22) IN A PATIENT WITH HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-RELATED CIRRHOSIS

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection may be complicated by non-Hodgkin's lymphoma through yet unknown pathogenetic mechanisms. We describe the case of a patient with HCV-related cirrhosis who developed a primary e ffusion lymphoma (PEL) of Burkitt's type confined to the peritoneal ca vity, in the absence of immunodeficiency or autoimmunity. Paracentesis followed by immunophenotyping, karyotyping, and molecular studies all owed us to diagnose a small noncleaved B-cell lymphoma (CD20(+), CD24( +), CD10(+), CD5(-), CD23(-), lambda(+)) with the t(8; 22) (q24; q11) translocation and clonal rearrangement of the immunoglobulin heavy cha in gene. HCN-RNA, Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated h erpesvirus were not identified within lymphoma cells. The finding of H CV-RNA in the ascitic fluid suggests a link between HCV and developmen t of lymphoma with HCV playing the role of persistent antigenic stimul ation to intraperitoneal B-cell clonal expansion(s). Copyright (C) 199 7 by W.B. Saunders Company.