[Infection status and prognostic significance analysis of Epstein-Barr virus in 207 cases with newly diagnosed Hodgkin's lymphoma].

To evaluate the Epstein Barr virus (EBV) positive rate in untreated Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) and investigate the prognostic significance of EBV status.A total of 207 previously untreated patients with histologically confirmed Hodgkin's lymphoma were enrolled in the study. The EBV infection status was confirmed through examining EBV-RNA (EBER) or EBV latent membrane protein-1. The correlation of clinical features and EBV infection status was analyzed, also the prognostic significance of EBV infection.A total of 66 cases were confirmed to be EBV positive Hodgkin's lymphoma (EBV⁺ HL) in all 207 cases, accounting for 31.9%. EBV⁺ HL group had more male patients (46/66, 69.7%) and mixed cellularity subtype (34/66, 51.5%) than EBV negative Hodgkin's lymphoma (EBV⁻ HL) group. The EBV positive rate had two peaks in age, respectively, in the age of 0-15 yeaR-old and >60 yeaR-old. During a median follow-up period of 35 months, EBV⁻ HL was significant better than EBV⁺ HL in overall survival (P=0.001), but no significant difference was found in progression-free survival (P=0.763).EBV positive is a poor prognostic factor for overall survival time in HL.