Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in patients with lymphoproliferative disorders in Southern Turkey

Anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody prevalence was investigated in 228 pa tients with lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs). Twenty-six of 228 (11.40% ) patients with LPDs were positive for anti-HCV which was higher than the d onor population (P = 0.0007). Nine of 98 cases with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, five of 47 cases with multiple myeloma, seven of 36 cases with Hodgkin's d isease, four of 38 cases with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and one of nine cases with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia had anti-HCV antibody. In all pat ients, odds ratio (OR) for anti-HCV was 24.09. This value was higher in pat ients less than 35 years as 62.04 for below 25 years and 32.00 for between 25-35 years. Our findings suggest that HCV infection might be a causative a nd/or contributing factor in lymphoproliferation.