The Role of EBV in the Pathogenesis of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

There are multiple established risk factors for DLBCL; these risk factors share an underlying biology, which generally cause immune dysfunction, spanning immunosuppression to chronic inflammation. EBV is an established risk factor for DLBCL and approximately 10% of DLBCLs are EBV-positive. EBV is a ubiquitous infection, and it is thus among populations that are immunocompromised, by age or medically defined, where EBV-positive DLBCLs arise. In this chapter, we review the current classification, epidemiology, clinical, pathology, and molecular characteristics of EBV-positive DLBCL, and discuss the role of EBV in lymphoma tumorigenesis. We further discuss current and novel treatments aimed at the NFκB pathway and other targets.