Prevalence of hepatitis B or C virus infections in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) are not onl y hepatotropic, but also lymphotropic viruses. Recently, some reports sugge sted that these viruses may participate in the development of malignant lym phoproliferative disorders. Methods: We investigated the prevalence of HCV or HBV infection in 348 pati ents with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). We also compared these prevalences with those in blood donors as a control group representing the general popu lation in our area (n = 1 513 358). Next, we evaluated the clinical and pat hologic characteristics of HCV- or HBV-infected NHL cases. Non-Hodgkin's ly mphoma was classified according to the Working Formulation classification. Results: Thirty-seven cases (14.9%) were found to be infected with HCV or H BV; of these, 20 (8.1%) were infected with HCV, and 17 (6.9%) with HBV. In male NHL patients, the rate of HCV infection was significantly higher than in an age- and sex-matched population in the same area (P < 0.001, Mantel-H aenszel test). The rate of HBV infection also tended to be higher in the po pulation (P = 0.0551). In contrast, in female NHL patients, the rate of HCV or HBV infection was not higher than in the general population. In HCV-inf ected cases, 15 cases (75%) had B-cell NHL and 16 cases (80%) were classifi ed as being in the intermediate grade; B-cell NHL comprised 83% of all NHL cases. In HBV-infected NHL cases, 11 (65%) were of B-cell type and 10 (58%) were classified as being in the intermediate grade. Conclusions: The high prevalence of HCV or HBV infections in our study popu lation provides epidemiologic evidence suggesting that HCV and HBV infectio ns may be involved in the development of a subgroup of NHL in males. Our in vestigation also revealed that both HCV- and HBV-infected NHL patients show ed certain similarities in clinical and pathologic manifestations.