Hepatitis C viral infection is not associated with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia
Author(s) -
Leleu Xavier,
O'Connor Kelly,
Ho Allen W.,
Santos Daniel D.,
Manning Robert,
Xu Lian,
Hatjiharissi Evdoxia,
Moreau AnneSophie,
Branagan Andrew R.,
Hunter Zachary R.,
Dimmock Elizabeth A.,
Soumerai Jacob,
Patterson Christopher,
Ghobrial Irene,
Treon Steven P.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
american journal of hematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1096-8652
pISSN - 0361-8609
DOI - 10.1002/ajh.20724
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatitis c virus , macroglobulinemia , immunology , waldenstrom macroglobulinemia , hepatitis c , etiology , population , immunosuppression , antibody , incidence (geometry) , malignancy , virology , virus , lymphoma , multiple myeloma , physics , environmental health , optics
Abstract While a familial predisposition may exist in up to 20% of patients with Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia (WM), the precipitating cause of this B‐cell malignancy remains unknown in most patients. In previous studies, an association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and WM has been suggested as etiological. This relationship has been the subject of debate, however, with some studies demonstrating increased incidence of HCV infection among WM patients and other studies showing no such association exists. This discordance might be attributable to the analytical method used, HCV antibody detection, which might be ineffective in patients with immunosuppression. We therefore analyzed the prevalence of HCV in a large population of WM patients utilizing both an HCV antibody detection immunoassay as well as qualitative polymerase chain reaction assay to directly detect HCV presence in serum samples. None of 100 randomly tested WM patients in this study tested positive for HCV by either analytical method. Our results therefore demonstrate a lack of association between HCV and WM. Am. J. Hematol., 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.