Secondary B-cell lymphoma associated with the Epstein-Barr virus in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients.

ABSTRACT: Up to 10 % of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients present with aggressive secondary B-cell lymphoma (most frequently diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, DLBCL) which may be clonally related to the CLL (i.e., Richter transformation, RT, 80 % of the cases) or de novo (20 % of the cases). Several genetic lesions associated with RT have already been identified, but the potential role of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been largely overlooked. In this study, we describe six CLL patients who developed a secondary EBV-positive (EBV⁺) B-cell lymphoma (five DLBCL, one Hodgkin lymphoma) and compare their clinicopathological characteristics to ten CLL patients with EBV-negative (EBV^-) secondary B-cell lymphomas (all DLBCL). All 16 patients had a history of iatrogenic immunos

SUBMITTER: Morscio J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5962620 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature