Immunohistochemical investigation of SV40 large T antigen in Hodgkin and non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma

DNA sequences from simian virus 40 (SV40) have been detected in various human tumors, including non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs), by highly sensitive PCR techniques. However, there is a strong debate as to whether SV40 is present in lymphoma cells. Using immunohistochemistry and tissue microarrays, we investigated a series of French and Canadian cases of Hodgkin's lymphomas (HLs) and NHLs and tried to detect the SV40 large T antigen using routine paraffin sections with standard and highly sensitive catalyzed system amplification methods. None of the cases of HLs ( n = 250) or NHLs ( n = 232) were found to contain a single large T antigen‐positive cell, whereas 2 positive controls were repeatedly stained. Therefore, our results do not support the hypothesis that SV40 is implicated in the etiology of human lymphomas. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.