Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in four children infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. Association with Epstein-Barr virus and treatment

✍ Scribed by David Nadal; Rosmarie Caduff; Eva Frey; Shabir Hassam; Dieter R. Zimmermann; Jean-Marie Seigneurin; Hans-JÜRg Plüss; Reinhard A. Seger

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 668 KB
• Volume: 73
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(19940101)73:1<224::aid-cncr2820730138>3.0.co;2-d

✦ Synopsis

Background. Reports on lymphoid malignancy and its treatment in children infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are limited.

Methods. Antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) were detected by indirect immunofluorescence. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes or biopsy specimens. Polymerase chain reaction was run using primers for EBV. Reaction products underwent Southern blot analysis to confirm EBV specificity. Tumor clonality was assessed by immunohistochemistry and by Southern blot analysis of immunoglobulin heavy-chain and T-cell receptor P-gene rearrangement.

Results. Within 1 year, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) was diagnosed in four children infected with HIV. All four were EBV-seropositive and had detectable EBV DNA in peripheral blood lymphocytes. The EBV-linked disorders lymphoid interstitial pneumonia and recurrent parotid enlargement preceded NHL in three and two of the children, respectively. In all four patients, NHL involved at one time the central nervous system (CNS). All three tested NHL tissues were positive for EBV DNA. A 12-week course of chemotherapy given to two children resulted in rapid tumor regression. One of these children experienced meningeal relapse and died 16 months after diagnosis. The other child, who in addition received local From the