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Updated: Mar 31, 2026
An Efficient and Simple Method to Establish NK and T Cell Lines from Patients with Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus Infection
Published on: March 30, 2018
A look into the evolution of Epstein-Barr virus-induced lymphoproliferative disorders: a case study
Maria Raffaella Ambrosio1, Bruno Jim Rocca2, Alessandro Ginori1
1From the Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Section of Pathology, University of Siena, Siena, Italy;
Objectives:
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-induced lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs) are lymphoid proliferations arising as a result of the loss of an effective EBV-specific cytotoxic T-cell response. LPDs may occur for primary or acquired impairment of the immune system, as well as in some persons without documented immunodeficiency.
Methods:
In this article, we describe the case of a human immunodeficiency virus-positive patient affected by an EBV-LPD of the stomach who developed a nodal diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with complex morphologic and molecular features.
Results:
GeneScan analysis of the gastric specimen identified two different heavy-chain immunoglobulin gene (IGH) rearrangements characterized by a dominant peak of 285 base pairs (bp) in length and a smaller peak of 266 bp in length. In the lymph node sample, IGH evaluation also demonstrated two different peaks; however, the main peak corresponded to the minor peak detected in the EBV-LPD specimen at the diagnosis. In addition, a monoclonal immunoglobulin light chain gene (IGL) rearrangement was also found. We also demonstrated that the major peak in the stomach corresponded to the EBV-positive population observed in the histologic sections.
Conclusions:
This case may provide additional insights to better understanding the "hit-and-run" role for EBV in lymphomagenesis. However, we could not exclude that our findings represent the co-occurrence of two unrelated B-cell neoplasms rather than a progression from an EBV-positive neoplasm to an EBV-negative one.
