Association of the Epstein-Barr virus with Hodgkin's disease in southern Israel

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been frequently documented in the putative neoplastic Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells, in lymph nodes from patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD). This association varies in different geographic areas and between industrialized and developing countries, as does the epidemiological pattern of the disease. In the present study of 106 cases of HD from the Soroka Medical Center in Beer-Sheva, which serves as the only hospital for most of the southern part of Israel, we found an association with EBV expression in only 30% of the patients; 45% of mixed cellularity (MC) cases compared with 21% of nodular sclerosis (NS) cases were positive for EBV. The number of patients in the 0-14-year-old age group was limited; however, 8 of these 11 children were EBV positive. This low association rate of HD with the presence of EBV sequences is probably related to the small number of children in our series. A low proportion of EBV-associated disease in older adults may be contributory. Other factors may be involved. Int. J. Cancer, 71:138–141, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.