Infectious etiology has been confirmed only in a few lymphoproliferative di
sorders such as human T-cell lymphotropic virus in adult T-cell leukemia ly
mphoma, Epstein-Barr virus in African-type Burkitt's lymphoma and Hodgkin's
disease, and Helicobacter pylori infection in primary gastric B-cell lymph
oma. In recent years, Ferri and colleagues have found hepatitis C virus (HC
V) association with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in Italy. The aim of our s
tudy was to determine the HCV association in NHL patients in Antalya. Forty
-eight patients (22 women and 26 men, with a median age of 52 years) with N
HL were included in the study. The control group consisted of 28 patients w
ith various hematological disorders (11 women and 17 men with a median age
of 50 years). Anti-HCV antibodies were investigated in 48 patients, and HCV
RNA was assessed in 35 of them. Anti-HCV antibodies were found to be negat
ive in the NHL group, but HCV RNA was positive in the serum of three patien
ts (8.6%), who were diagnosed with diffuse small cell lymphoma (19%). Anti-
HCV antibodies and HCV RNA were negative in the control group. Since HCV as
sociation with NHL has previously been reported in Italy, it is likely that
both genetic and environmental factors in the Mediterranean sea-region may
be involved in the oncogenesis in HCV RNA-positive patients. Multicenter s
tudies with large patient groups will disclose the true association of HCV
with NHL in Turkey.