Background: The association of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with Hodgkin's disease (HD) is intimately related to socioeconomic status. The proportion of HD patients with EBV is high in developing countries but low in developed countries. The aim of this study was to delineate the association of EBV with HD in Taiwan.
Methods: Tissues from 70 consecutive cases of HD were examined for the presence of EBV, for the latent membrane protein (LMP- 1) by immunohistochemistry, and for EBER-1 by in situ hybridization.
Results: There were 53 males and 17 females, with a mean age of 42 years (range, 7-75 years). Histologic subtypes included nodular sclerosis in 36 cases (51.4%), mixed cellularity in 26 (37.1%), lymphocyte predominance in 6, and lymphocyte depletion in 2. Overall, EBV was expressed in 44 cases (62.9%), with EBER-1 expression detected in 40 (57.1%) and LMP-1 detected in 38 (54.3%). The following histologic subtypes were associated with EBV: lymphocyte predominance in 1 of 6 cases (16.7%), nodular sclerosis in 23 of 36 cases (63.9%), mixed cellularity in 18 of 26 cases (69.2%), and lymphocyte depletion in 2 of 2 cases (100%).
Conclusions: EBV association with HD is relatively high in Taiwan. Although EBV was detected in all subtypes and at all ages in this study, the low endemic incidence of HD in Taiwan suggests that other factors, besides EBV, play a role in the pathogenesis of HD.