Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Catania, I-95124 Catania, Italy.
Int J Oncol. 2010 Jun;36(6):1331-40. doi: 10.3892/ijo_00000618.
Some infectious agents have been associated with B-cell lymphoma development. In the last decades, it has been demonstrated that patients infected by hepatitis C virus (HCV) are more likely to develop B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) than those uninfected. The prevalence of HCV-infection among NHL patients is reported in this review of all Italian studies on NHL and HCV infection, both case-control and case series. From 18 studies, the prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies in 2736 NHL patients was 19.7% (range: 8.3-37.1%). The association of HCV-infection with each NHL histotype in case-control studies is discussed. Molecular mechanisms by which HCV infection promotes B-cell NHL development is also explored and indicate that HCV-associated lymphomas may be a distinct entity. Clarification of these mechanisms may improve diagnosis, classification and therapy of this subset of NHL. Finally, treatment of HCV-positive patients with lymphoproliferative disorders are herein summarized and further support the notion that HCV infection contributes to the development of these pathologic conditions.
一些传染性病原体与 B 细胞淋巴瘤的发展有关。在过去的几十年中，已经证明感染丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）的患者比未感染的患者更有可能患上 B 细胞非霍奇金淋巴瘤（NHL）。本综述综述了意大利所有关于 NHL 和 HCV 感染的病例对照和病例系列研究，报告了 NHL 患者中 HCV 感染的流行情况。在 18 项研究中，2736 例 NHL 患者的抗 HCV 抗体阳性率为 19.7%（范围：8.3-37.1%）。讨论了 HCV 感染与病例对照研究中每种 NHL 组织类型的关系。还探讨了 HCV 感染促进 B 细胞 NHL 发展的分子机制，并表明 HCV 相关淋巴瘤可能是一种独特的实体。阐明这些机制可能有助于改善 NHL 这一亚组的诊断、分类和治疗。最后，本文总结了治疗 HCV 阳性伴淋巴增生性疾病患者的情况，进一步支持 HCV 感染有助于这些病理状况发展的观点。
