Prevalence of HCV among Yemeni patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at AI-Thawra teaching hospital.

BACKGROUND

Epidemiological studies in different parts of the world have revealed controversial results on the association between HCV infection and Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. This discrepancy suggests that HCV lymphotropism and its effect on host lymphocytes may be influenced by regional and racial factors as well as by viral genomic variations.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the prevalence of HCV infection in Yemeni patients with NHLs diagnosed and treated in our hospital and to evaluate the association between the two diseases.

METHODS

All consecutive patients with NHL treated in our Haematology/Oncology Unit between January 2005 and January 2007 were screened for anti- HCV antibodies by enzyme immunoassay. The prevalence of HCV infection in patients with NHLs was compared to that in a non-lymphomatous control group consisted of all patients checked for HCV infection with several acute medical conditions in the same hospital who were coming from different parts of the country.

RESULTS

A total of 192 patients with NHLs were tested for anti-HCV antibodies. One hundred seventeen patients (60.94%) were males and 75 patients (39.06%) were females. The mean age of the patients was 41.30+/-19.15 SD and range between 5-80 years. Twenty-nine (15.1%) of the 192 patients were found positive for HCV infection. Twenty-one (17.6%) of 29 positive patients were male and only 8 (10.7%) patients were female. The mostly involved age group was 41-60 representing 24.6%. A total of 20329 patients from different departments were investigated for anti-HCV antibodies and used as a control. Of the 12274 control (60.4%) were males and 8055 (39.6%) were females. A total of 814 (4%) controls were found positive for HCV antibodies. Of the positive controls, 529 (4.3%) were males and 285 (3.5%) were females. The association between HCV infection and NHLs was assessed using logistic regression models. There was a significant association of HCV with NHLs, the unadjusted OR [4.27, 95% CI 2.86-6.37] which differ slightly by gender in males the OR [4.86, 95% CI 3.01 - 7.85] and in female the OR [3.26, 95%CI 1.55- 6.84]. For separate NHL subtypes, the numbers of HCV infected cases were limited. Nonetheless, positive associations were noted for indolent type [OR=4.49, 95% CI 1.87-10.78] and for aggressive type as well [OR=4.2195% CI 2.69-6.59]. The prevalence of HCV antibodies in cases and controls was more frequent in males and in the age group above 40 years.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion the results of the present study indicate a higher prevalence of HCV infection among Yemeni patients with NHL than among persons in the control group. Therefore our study demonstrates an association between HCV infection and NHLs. HCV infection may play a role in causing NHLs.