@article{3084797,
    title = "The prevalence of hepatitis C and hepatitis G virus infection in
patients with B cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas in Greece: A Hellenic
cooperative oncology group study",
    author = "Giannoulis, E and Economopoulos, T and Mandraveli, K and Giannoulis, K and and Nikolaides, C and Zervou, E and Papageorgiou, E and Zoulas, D and and Tourkantonis, A and Giannaopoulos, G and Fountzilas, G",
    journal = "Acta Haematologica",
    year = "2004",
    volume = "112",
    number = "4",
    pages = "189-193",
    publisher = "Karger",
    issn = "0001-5792, 1421-9662",
    doi = "10.1159/000081270",
    keywords = "hepatitis C; hepatitis G; lymphoma",
    abstract = "Our aim was to investigate the association between chronic hepatitis C
virus (HCV) infection and B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in the Greek
population. We studied 120 patients ( 70 men and 50 women, mean age 59
years) diagnosed with NHL. One hundred and eight had B cell NHL (90%)
and 12 had T cell NHL (10%). The presence of anti-HCV antibodies in
patients and controls was investigated using the monoclonal enzymatic
immunoassay (MEIA) method. The detection of HCV RNA and hepatitis G
virus (HGV) RNA in patients with B cell NHL and anti-HCV-positive
controls was performed using an RT-PCR technique. Anti-HCV antibodies
were present in only 2 of the 108 patients with B cell NHL (1.9%),
while the prevalence of HCV infection in the healthy population was
0.6%, and in patients with various solid tumors treated with
chemotherapy, it was 0.99%. Ten of the 108 B cell NHL patients (9.26%)
were diagnosed as HGV RNA positive, while the prevalence of HGV
infection in 285 Greek blood donors was 0.7%. Our findings do not
confirm a strong association between HCV infection and B cell NHL for
Greek patients. The increased prevalence of HGV infection detected in
patients with NHL could imply the potential participation of HGV in the
pathogenesis of NHL. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel."
}