HCV and HGV infection in Hodgkin's disease.

Numerous observations imply that the pathogenesis of malignant lymphomas is multifactorial and that viruses probably play an important etiologic role. Besides Epstein-Barr virus, there might be other viruses among the causes of Hodgkin's disease. A total of 111 randomly selected patients with Hodgkin's disease were included in this study, and hepatitis C and G viruses were tested with polymerase chain reaction. The results were compared to hepatitis C and G virus infection ratios assessed by polymerase chain reaction in the Hungarian blood bank. Hepatitis C virus was diagnosed in 10 (9%) patients, and hepatitis G virus in 9 (8,1%), which is a 12-fold and a 1,5-fold infection rate as compared to that of the Hungarian blood bank, respectively. There was no significant difference between hepatitis positive and negative patients concerning mean age at the time of diagnosis, sex, disease stage, histology type, treatment applied, risk factors in the history of the infection and liver enzymes. Hepatitis C virus positivity in patients with Hodgkin's disease differs significantly from that in blood donors. Based on these results and data in the literature, no definite statement can be made on the etiological role of viruses, but further studies are needed.