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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
Clinical Significance of Plasma Epstein-Barr Virus DNA in Peripheral T-Cell Lymphomas
Danqing Zhao1, Shaoxuan Hu2, Daobin Zhou3
1Department of Hematology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China, lostparadise@126.com.
Introduction:
The clinical implications of plasma Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA in patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) remain unclear.
Objective:
This study aimed to explore the clinical correlations of pre- and post-treatment plasma EBV-DNA concentrations with treatment outcomes and prognosis in patients with PTCL.
Methods:
We retrospectively reviewed 128 patients diagnosed with PTCL with available data on pre-treatment plasma EBV-DNA, including 63 patients for whom post-treatment plasma EBV-DNA data were also available. Patients with extra-nodal NK/T-
Results:
Pre-treatment plasma EBV-DNA was elevated (e.g., ≥500 copies/mL) in 35.2% of PTCL patients, with significant differences in positive rates between different subtypes of PTCL (p < 0.001). High pre-treatment EBV-DNA concentrations were associated with advanced age (>60 years), elevated lactate dehydrogenase levels, high International Prognostic Index (IPI), and positive EBV-encoded RNAs-ISH in tumor specimens. In multivariate analyses, pre-treatment EBV-DNA ≥500 copies/mL was an independent prognostic factor after adjusting for IPI and pathological subtypes (hazard ratio = 2.14, p = 0.032). For patients with elevated pre-treatment EBV-DNA, normalization of EBV-DNA concentrations after first-line chemotherapy was significantly associated with better overall response rate (81.3% vs. 22.2%, p = 0.014), progression-free survival (12.0 months vs. 3.7 months, p = 0.011), and overall survival (37.9 months vs. 7.8 months, p = 0.012). For patients achieving remission to first-line therapy, rebound of EBV-DNA levels during follow-up was associated with disease relapse or progression.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that pre-treatment plasma EBV-DNA concentration is a strong prognostic factor for PTCL. For patients with elevated pre-treatment EBV-DNA, dynamic monitoring of EBV-DNA changes after initiation of therapy is useful for predicting treatment outcome and disease relapse.
