Annals of Oncology 9:499-504, 1998
© 1998 European Society for Medical Oncology
research-article |
Impact of hepatitis C virus infection on clinical features, quality of life and survival of patients with lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma/immunocytoma
1Division of Hematology, University Hospital Udine, Italy
2Institute of Microbiology, University Hospital Udine, Italy
3Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Udine, Italy
Correspondence to: F. Silvestri, MD, Division of Hematology, University Hospital, 33100 Udine, Italy. E-mail: ematologia(@jdrmm.uniud.it
BACKGROUND: The non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) subgroup most frequently associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma/immunocytoma (Lp-Ic). We have assessed the impact of the infection on the clinical features, quality of life and survival of HCV+ve Lp-Ic patients as compared to its impact in HCV-ve patients.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy patients with Lp-Ic consecutively observed over a six-year period were studied. Clinical, virological and histopathological features were recorded at diagnosis. Quality of life was assessed using a scoring system including disease-related symptoms, performance status, working ability, hospital admissions and therapies required.
RESULTS: Eighteen patients (26%) with HCV infection were identified. Significant differences between those patients and the HCV–ve group included number of symptomatic patients, Hb levels, serum protein levels, entity of the IgM monoclonal component, number of patients with cryoglobulins and with organ (liver, kidney) involvement, and entity and pattern of bone marrow infiltration. Survival rates were similar (P= 0.8383), but the quality-of-life score was significantly worse for the HCV+ve patients (p = 0.002). All anti-HCV Ab+ve patients tested positive for HCV RNA; genotype 2ac was detected in a significant proportion of cases.
CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that HCV infection is present in about one-third of patients with Lp-Ic. HCV infection does not seem to affect the overall survival of patients with Lp-Ic, but it affects the clinical expression of the disease, so that the overall quality of life of HCV+ve patients is significantly worse.
clinical features, HCV infection, lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma/immunocytoma, quality of life
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