HIGH-FREQUENCY OF EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS LATENT MEMBRANE PROTEIN-1 EXPRESSION IN ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME-RELATED KI-1 (CD30)-POSITIVE ANAPLASTIC LARGE-CELL LYMPHOMAS

Immunohistochemical detection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded late nt membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) was used to identify EBV-associated Ki-1 -positive anaplastic large-cell (ALC) lymphomas occurring in 11 patien ts with and 29 patients without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) inf ection. In addition, 18 representative cases of other acquired immunod eficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related lymphomas and 66 cases of Hodgkin's disease, including 14 patients with HIV infection, were investigated. In patients with HIV infection, LMP-1 was found more frequently in Ki- 1-positive ALC lymphomas than in other histotypes, although the differ ence in EBV association between Ki-1-positive ALC and other lymphomas was not significant. In these patients, the percentage of LMP-1 expres sing Ki-1-positive ALC lymphomas was significantly higher than that fo und in patients without HIV infection (72.7% vs. 24.1%; P<.01), thus s uggesting an etiologic role for EBV in a large proportion of AIDS-rela ted Ki-1-positive ALC lymphomas. Moreover, the frequency of LMP-1 expr ession in Hodgkin's disease cases (71.4% in patients with and 21.1% in patients without HIV infection) was close to that found in Ki-1-posit ive ALC lymphoma cases, supporting the view that the higher frequency of EBV association with both entities detected in patients with HIV in fection may be AIDS-related.