Detection of Epstein-Barr Virus in Hodgkin's lymphoma Specimens in the Fars Province in 2016

Epstein Barr virus is associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Burkitt lymphoma and Hodgkin's lymphoma. The aim of this study was to detect the frequency of EBV in tissue specimens from patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma in the Fars province using the immunohistochemical method.
A number of 30 cases of Hodgkin’s lymphoma tissue samples were selected from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded blocks from the Fars province hospitals in 2016 and the expression of LMP1 was evaluated using the immunohistochemical method. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software and Fisher’s exact test.
Results and A total of 77% of the samples (23 of 30), were presented with Epstein-Barr virus and positive cases included 16 males and 7 females. Eighty seven percent (7 of 8) of the Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients infected with EBV were in the age group 1-14 years, 60% (3 of 5) in the age group of 15-49 years and 76% (13 of 17) in the age group over 49 years. The highest expression rate of the virus was seen among mixed cellularity Hodgkin’s lymphoma subtype (93%). According to the Fisher’s exact test, there was no significant correlation in the prevalence of EBV subtypes among different sex and age groups (p values > 0.05). The results showed a high expression of EBV among Hodgkin’s lymphoma specimens of children and adults in the Fars province. Also, the prevalence of EBV was higher among males compared to females and mixed cellularity was the predominant subtype. These results are similar to that in other developing countries.