This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 21, 2016; 22(27): 6214-6223 Published online Jul 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i27.6214
Hepatitis C virus - associated B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Romeo-Gabriel Mihăilă
Romeo-Gabriel Mihăilă, Faculty of Medicine, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, 500169 Sibiu, Romania
Romeo-Gabriel Mihăilă, Hematology Department, Emergency County Clinical Hospital Sibiu, 550245 Sibiu, Romania
Author contributions: Mihăilă RG solely contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author has no conflict of interest associated with this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Romeo-Gabriel Mihăilă, MD, PhD, Professor, Chief, Hematology Department, Emergency County Clinical Hospital Sibiu, Bulevardul Corneliu Coposu 2-4, 550245 Sibiu, Romania. romeomihaila@yahoo.com
Telephone: +40-269-215050 Fax: +40-269-218365
Received: March 26, 2016 Peer-review started: March 26, 2016 First decision: May 12, 2016 Revised: May 13, 2016 Accepted: June 15, 2016 Article in press: June 15, 2016 Published online: July 21, 2016
Core Tip
Core tip: There are epidemiological observations on the association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Various microenvironmental signals, such as cytokines, viral antigenic external stimulation of lymphocyte receptors by HCV antigens, and intercellular interactions contribute to B cell proliferation. HCV lymphotropism and chronic antigenic stimulation are involved in B-lymphocyte expansion, as mixted cryoglobulinemia or monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, which can progress to B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (BCNHL). HCV infected patients with indolent BCNHL who receive antiviral therapy can be potentially cured. Viral clearance was related to lymphoma response, fact that highlights the probable involvement of HCV in lymphomagenesis.
