High Viral Loads of Epstein-Barr Virus DNA in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Associated with Unfavorable Prognosis

• Published in: PloS one 2015-10, Vol.10 (10), p.e0140178-e0140178
• Main Authors: Grywalska, Ewelina, Roliński, Jacek, Pasiarski, Marcin, Korona-Glowniak, Izabela, Maj, Maciej, Surdacka, Agata, Grafka, Agnieszka, Stelmach-Gołdyś, Agnieszka, Zgurski, Michał, Góźdź, Stanisław, Malm, Anna, Grabarczyk, Piotr, Starosławska, Elżbieta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analysis; Antibodies, Viral - blood; B cells; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; Blood; Cancer; Cancer genetics; Case-Control Studies; CD38 antigen; Cell number; Chronic illnesses; Chronic lymphocytic leukemia; Copy number; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Development and progression; Distribution; DNA; DNA, Viral - blood; Epstein-Barr virus; Hematology; Herpesvirus 4, Human - genetics; Herpesvirus 4, Human - immunology; Humans; Immunology; Immunotherapy; Infections; L-Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactic acid; Leukemia; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell - blood; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell - virology; Leukocytes (mononuclear); Lymphatic leukemia; Lymphocyte receptors; Lymphocytes; Lymphoma; Medical prognosis; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Patients; Peripheral blood mononuclear cells; Phenotypes; Probability; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Viral Load; Viruses; World population; ZAP-70 protein
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0140178

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous γ-herpesvirus that infects more than 90% of the world population. The potential involvement of EBV in the clinical course of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) remains unexplained. The aim of this study was to determine whether EBV-DNA load in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of CLL patients may influence heterogeneity in the course of the disease. The study included peripheral blood samples from 115 previously untreated patients with CLL (54 women and 61 men) and 40 healthy controls (16 women and 24 men). We analyzed the association between the EBV-DNA load in PBMCs and the stage of the disease, adverse prognostic factors, and clinical outcome. Detectable numbers of EBV-DNA copies in PBMCs were found in 62 out of 115 CLL patients (53.91%). The EBV-DNA copy number/μg DNA was significantly higher in patients who required early implementation of treatment, presented with lymphocyte count doubling time