Association between Epstein-Barr virus and Hodgkin's lymphoma in Belgium: a pathological and virological study

The association between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) varies according to the geographic location. In this work we sought to characterize EBV involvement in a series of 111 cHL cases diagnosed in Belgium. The overall prevalence of EBV infection detected by in situ hybridization in Reed-Sternberg cells was 33%. EBV positivity correlated with older age at diagnosis (>54 years; p = 0.01), mixed cellularity subtype (p = 0.000001), male gender (p = 0.004) and tended to be associated with higher clinical stage (III/IV; p = 0.02). The molecular features of the virus in EBV-positive cHL were studied by comparison with a series of reactive tonsils. A 30-bp deletion within the LMP-1 gene was in 15/28 (53.6%) EBV-positive cHL cases, and in 41.7% of reactive tonsil samples. This variant did not correlate with any clinical or pathological feature. The EBV strain was type A in all cHL and reactive samples.