Epstein-Barr virus present in T cells or B cells shows differential effects on hemophagocytic symptoms associated with outcome in T-cell lymphomas.

Non-specific peripheral (PTCL-NOS) and angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) frequently show Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) expression in lymphoma or bystander B cells. However, whether EBV localization affects clinicopathologic features is unclear. We correlated EBV localization with clinicopathologic findings in PTCL-NOS (n = 63) and AITL (n = 26). PTCL-NOS showed EBV+ in 41%, with 22% in lymphoma T cells (T-EBV) and 19% in bystander B cells (B-EBV), and more EBV+ cells in T-EBV cases (39.3% vs. 11.8%, p = 0.003). Compared to B-EBV cases, T-EBV PTCL-NOS had higher rates of type II EBV latency (p = 0.003), leukopenia (p = 0.020) and hemophagocytosis (p = 0.061), which predicted a poor outcome (p < 0.001). In contrast, 88% of AITLs were EBV+, exclusively in B cells. EBV+ cases showed lower rates of hemophagocytosis (p = 0.006), but this was insignificant for prognosis. Therefore, hemophagocytic symptoms in PTCL-NOS are much more tightly associated with T-EBV and carry poor prognoses. In contrast, hemophagocytosis in AITL is correlated with EBV-, but is not significant for outcome.