EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS IS INFREQUENTLY IDENTIFIED IN NON-HODGKINS-LYMPHOMAS ASSOCIATED WITH HODGKINS-DISEASE

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was identified in a subset of cases of Hodgki n's disease (HD) and in some non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs), particula rly those associated with immunodeficiency. Because patients with HD h ave associated immune system defects, we hypothesized that EBV might b e involved in NHLs associated with HD. Using fixed paraffin sections a nd in situ hybridization for EBV EBERI RNA, we studied 12 cases of com posite NHL + HD, two patients with NHL who simultaneously also had HD involving a different site (simultaneous HD and NHL), 14 NHLs arising in patients who previously had HD, and seven NHLs from patients who su bsequently developed HD. Epstein-Barr virus was identified most freque ntly in composite NHL + HD. Five (42%) cases of composite NHL + HD con tained EBV in Reed-Sternberg and Hodgkin cells, four of which also had EBV-positive NHLs, diffuse mixed or large-cell type, with 10 to more than 50 EBV-positive cells per x 400 microscopic field. These results suggest that in this subset of four cases, both the NHL and HD compone nts may have arisen from the same EBV-infected progenitor cell. We did not find EBV in two cases of simultaneous NHL and HD or in seven NHLs preceding development of HD. We identified EBV in only two of 14 NHLs following HD, one small noncleaved cell lymphoma and one plasmacytoma , both containing more than 50 EBV-positive cells per x 400 microscopi c field. These results suggest that EBV plays a minimal role in NHLs a ssociated with HD, with the exception of composite NHL + HD. Hodgkin's disease-associated immune defects may be involved in the pathogenesis of a subset of NHLs following HD, but the exact pathogenesis of most NHLs associated with HD remains uncertain. Parallels with the high-gra de Burkitt-like lymphomas associated with human immunodeficiency virus infection are noted.