A Novel Risk Locus at 6p21.3 for Epstein-Barr Virus-Positive Hodgkin Lymphoma

A proportion of the genetic variants involved in susceptibility to Hodgkin lymphoma differ by the tumor's Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) status, particularly within the MHC region.

We have conducted an SNP imputation study of the MHC region, considering tumor EBV status in 1,200 classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) cases and 5,726 control subjects of European origin. Notable findings were genotyped in an independent study population of 468 cHL cases and 551 controls.

We identified and subsequently replicated a novel association between a common genetic variant rs6457715 and cHL. Although strongly associated with EBV-positive cHL [OR, 2.33; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.83-2.97; P = 7 × 10(-12)], there was little evidence for association between rs6457715 and the EBV-negative subgroup of cHL (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.92-1.21), indicating that this association was specific to the EBV-positive subgroup (Phet < P = 10(-8)). Furthermore, the association was limited to EBV-positive cHL subgroups within mixed cell (MCHL) and nodular sclerosis subtypes (NSHL), suggesting that the association is independent of histologic subtype of cHL.

rs6457715, located near the HLA-DPB1 gene, is associated with EBV-positive cHL and suggests this region as a novel susceptibility locus for cHL.

This expands the number of genetic variants that are associated with cHL and provides additional evidence for a critical and specific role of EBV in the etiology of this disease.