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The relationship of hepatitis B virus infection and non‐Hodgkin’s lymphoma and its impact on clinical characteristics and prognosis
Author(s) -
Lim SoonThye,
Fei Gao,
Quek Richard,
Lim LayCheng,
Lee LaiHeng,
Yap SweePeng,
Loong Susan,
Tao Miriam
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
european journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1600-0609
pISSN - 0902-4441
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.2007.00878.x
Subject(s) - medicine , lamivudine , hepatitis b virus , lymphoma , incidence (geometry) , gastroenterology , hepatitis b , population , stage (stratigraphy) , chemotherapy , immunology , virus , paleontology , physics , environmental health , optics , biology
Aim of the study: This study aims to evaluate the association between hepatitis B virus (HBV) and lymphoma and to characterize HBV‐related lymphomas. The efficacy of prophylactic lamivudine on HBV reactivation was also evaluated. Methods: We compared the prevalence rate of HBV infection in 556 patients with lymphoma seen over a 4‐yr period with that in a group of 4698 Singapore residents aged 18–69 who participated in the National Health Survey. Next, we compared the clinic‐pathologic characteristics of HBV‐positive and HBV‐negative lymphoma cases. Results: The prevalence rate of HBV infection in our study was 10.3% (57/556), higher than the prevalence rate of 4.1% (192/4698) in the general population ( P ≤ 0.001). The higher prevalence was observed in both sexes and across different age groups. An association was observed for non‐Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) but not Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The characteristics of HBV‐infected patients with lymphoma were similar to those who were HBV‐uninfected in terms of age, ECOG, extra‐nodal involvement, LDH level, stage, complete remission rate and overall survival. Use of prophylactic lamivudine significantly decreased the incidence of HBV reactivation (13% vs. 38%, P = 0.02) and disruption to chemotherapy (43% vs. 4%, P = 0.02), with a trend towards improved overall survival. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that an association exists between HBV infection and NHL. However, HBV infection does not appear to have a significant impact on the clinical characteristics and prognosis of NHL. Prophylactic lamivudine should be considered in all HBV‐infected patients receiving antracycline and/or steroid containing chemotherapy.