HIGH PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS ASSOCIATED B-CELL LYMPHOMA IN MANSOURA REGION (EGYPT), ANRS 12263 STUDY

• Main Authors: Layla M. Saleh, Danielle Canioni, Sameh Shamaa, Maha El-Zaafarany, Ziad Emarah, Sherin Abdel-Aziz, Entsar Eladle, Alsaeed Abdelaziz, Olivier Hermine, Caroline Besson, Hasan Abdel-ghaffar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: PAGEPress Publications 2019-01-01
• Series: Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: HCV; Non-Hodgkin lymphoma; viremia
• Online Access: https://www.mjhid.org/index.php/mjhid/article/view/3518

Abstract :  Background: The prevalence of Hepatitis C virus in Egypt reaches 15%, which is considered the highest in the world. Genotype 4 represents 93 % of Egyptian HCV infections. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is the 5th most common cancer in Egypt. The association between HCV infection and occurrence of B-cell NHL is well known while data are scarce in Eastern countries. Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HCV infection among patients with B-cell NHL and the clinical characteristics of HCV associated B-cell NHL in Delta region (Mansoura-Egypt). Methods: Between March 2012 and March 2013, 110 adult patients newly diagnosed with B-cell NHL were enrolled in the current study. This study was carried out at Oncology Center, Mansoura University. Study subjects provided serum for HCV testing and for HCV RNA. Results: The prevalence of HCV infection among these patients was 61% (67/110 patients) which is the highest reported value in literature. Among them, 80% (32/40 tested patients) presented with viremia. Contrasting with the histological distribution previously described in Northern regions, the majority of HCV associated lymphomas were DLBCLs (72 %) followed by SLL/CLL (13 %), follicular lymphomas (7.5%) and 7.5% of marginal zone lymphomas. In conclusion:  B-cell lymphomas are highly associated with HCV infection in Egypt. Further developments are needed to give access to antiviral treatment for those patients in Delta region.