Background: Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) is one of the most common viral infections in human population. EBV has a significant role in pathogenesis of Hodgkin's lymphoma, Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The role of EBV in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, diffuse large B cell (NHL - DLBL) in the head and neck is controversial.
Objectives: The purpose of this study is to find out the difference between the presence of Epstein Barr virus in nodal and extra nodal lymphoma of head and neck.
Patients and methods: A total of 30 cases of DLBL in two separate groups were collected from pathology department. The first group was consisted of 15 patients with DLBL of neck lymph node and the other was consisted of 15 patients with extra nodal DLBL of head and neck mainly in palatine tonsil. Both immune-histo-chemical (IHC) study and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of late membrane antigen (LMP) were performed on formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue.
Results: All 30 cases were negative for EBV in IHC method. But in PCR method, 10% of patients were positive for LMP gene. There were 2 positive cases in nodal lymphoma and 1 positive case in extra nodal lymphoma group.
Conclusions: Compare with PCR method, it seems that IHC is not a sensitive method for detection of EBV. Overall, the finding of EBV in NHL depends on site, type of lymphoma and the detection method.
Keywords: Antigens; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections; Head and Neck; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin.