Hepatitis C virus infection and lymphoproliferative diseases: Prospective study on 1,576 patients in France

Context: Discordant data have been reported about the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients with lymphoproliferative diseases and the putative role of HCV in lymphomagenesis. Objective: To assess the prevalence of HCV infection in patients admitted to a hematology department in Paris, France. Design: Prospective, controlled study. Setting: University medical center. Patients: 813 patients admitted to the Hematology department (164 B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 34 Hodgkin's diseases, 107 chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 54 multiple myeloma, 12 Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, 17 acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 6 hairy cell leukemia, 189 myeloproliferative diseases, 6 solid organ tumors, and 224 nonmalignant diseases) and 694 patients admitted to the Internal Medicine department (control group). Measurements: All patients were tested for antibodies to HCV by a third-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: HCV antibodies were detected in 20 of 813 (2.46%) patients in Hematology Including 11 of 394 (2.79%) patients with lymphoproliferative diseases, 3 of 164 (1.83%) a-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 2 of 107 (1.87%) chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 1 of 54 (1.85%) multiple myeloma, 1 of 189 (0.5%) myeloproliferative diseases, and 8 of 224 (3.57%) nonmalignant hematologic diseases. HCV antibodies were detected in 3 of 694 (0.43%) patients in the control group. HCV contamination preceded B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma only in 2 of 3 HCV-positive patients. Conclusion: The prevalence of HCV infection was low (1.83%) in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. HCV seems not to play a major role in the pathogenesis of B cell lymphoma in France. Cofactors should be stressed to explain geographical discrepancies. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.