List A F, Greer J P, Cousar J B, Stein R S, Flexner J M, Sinangil F, Davis J, Volsky D J, Purtilo D T
Ann Intern Med. 1986 Nov;105(5):668-73. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-105-5-668.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma occurs infrequently as a late complication of obscure cause after treatment of Hodgkin's disease. We investigated the possible role of Epstein-Barr virus in the pathogenesis of such secondary malignancies of B-cell lineage. Two patients, aged 25 and 43 years, developed high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomas 12 and 8 years after radiation therapy for Hodgkin's disease. Serologic profiles in these patients showed evidence of acute and past Epstein-Barr virus infections, respectively. Molecular hybridization analysis showed the presence of multiple cellular equivalents of virus genome in tumor specimens from each patient. Our findings suggest that Epstein-Barr virus may play an integral role in the pathogenesis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of B-cell lineage that develops after treatment of Hodgkin's disease.
