PURPOSE
To investigate whether non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of Korea is pathogenetically associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We analyzed fifty nine paraffin-embedded tissue and 22 fresh frozen tissue samples from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients for the presence of EBV sequences by polymerase chain reactions (PCR), in situ hybridization (ISH) and assessed the clonality of EBV infected cells by Southern blot hybridization.
RESULT
On ISH using oligonucleotide probes corresponding to EBV-encoded small RNAs (EBERs), 17 (28.8%) of 59 paraffin-embedded tissue samples showed positive hybridization signals localized over the nuclei of the tumor cells, but PCR using primers from Internal Repeat I or EBV-determined nuclear antigen 1 gene showed positive results in only 6 (10.2%) and 5 (8.5%) samples, respectively. ISH and PCR did not detect EBV sequences in 15 paraffin-embedded tissue samples of tuberculous lymphadenitis patients. In 22 fresh frozen tissue samples, PCR detected EBV sequences in three samples from peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL). In two of those three samples, Southern blot analysis showed that these viral DNAs were monoclonal and of latent form.
CONCLUSION
Approximately 28.8% of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were related to EBV in Korea. Monoclonality of those EBV DNAs implies that virus infection preceded malignant transformation, suggesting that EBV may play a role in lymphomagenesis.