HIGH PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTION IN PATIENTS WITH B-CELL LYMPHOPROLIFERATIVE DISORDERS IN ITALY

Starting from the observation that a number of consecutive patients wi th non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) resulted positive for hepatitis C viru s (HCV) antibodies on routine testing, we set up a survey for HCV cont act prevalence in all patients with lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD ) followed in our institution, We searched for HCV antibodies by a thi rd-generation ELISA technique, followed by a confirmation test (RIBA I II); serum viral RNA and HCV genotype were investigated by a RT-PCR te chnique, We screened a total of 315 patients suffering from B-NHL (91) , multiple myeloma (56), MGUS (48), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (57), Waldentrom's macroglobulinemia (13), Hodgkin's disease (HD)(43), and T-NHL (9), While only 1 of 52 patients with a non-B-LPD (HD or T-NHL) had signs of HCV contact (i.e., 1.9%, which is in the range of the nor mal population in the South of Italy), 59 of 263 patients with a B-LPD (22.4%) had HCV antibodies or RNA, or both, with no major differences among the various types of disorders, except for WM, in which the rat e was higher (61.5%), The same prevalence was found for patients teste d at diagnosis or during the follow-up, and in transfused or never-tra nsfused patients. Only a few patients were aware of having a liver dis ease; one-half of HCV-positive patients never had transaminase increas e, A review of data from Central and Northern Italy is included, showi ng similar findings; a report from Japan has confirmed such an associa tion, while limited surveys in England have not revealed any correlati on, These findings may have important biological and clinical implicat ions. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.