T(3-17)(Q21-Q25) IN EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS ASSOCIATED PERIPHERAL T-CELL LYMPHOMA - A PEDIATRIC CASE

We describe an immunocompetent 8-year-old boy with a serological profi le indicating chronic infection by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) who develo ped subcutaneous and pulmonary lesions related to a peripheral T-cell proliferation. No clonal rearrangement of T-cell receptor or immunoglo bulin genes was seen. However, the finding of a t(3;17)(q21;q25) in 44 metaphases from one skin lesion demonstrated a clonal origin. We also showed that the proliferative T cells contained EBV genome leading to the diagnosis of EBV-associated peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Further c ytogenetic and molecular studies are needed to identify genes implicat ed in the pathogenesis of this haematological malignancy.