B-lymphotropic viruses in a novel tropical splenic lymphoma

Peripheral blood from patients with a novel tropical splenic lymphoma, char acterized by splenomegaly and circulating naive CD5-negative villous B lymp hocytes, has been screened for evidence of an association with the B-lympho tropic viruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8). No increased prevalence of EBV, HCV and HHV8 was dem onstrated using serological and molecular techniques, compared with a geogr aphical, age-matched control group. However, lymphoma patients had markedly raised EBV antibody levels without a concomitant increase in the rate of d etection of viral genomes in the peripheral blood. This phenomenon also occ urred in patients with hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly, a condition th at occurs in the same geographical area and that is clinically indistinguis hable from tropical splenic lymphoma, adding further weight to the suggesti on that there may be an aetiological association between these two disorder s.