High incidence of Epstein–Barr virus detection in Hodgkin's disease and absence of detection in anaplastic large‐cell lymphoma in children

Abstract
By in situ hybridization with EBER oligonucleotides and immunohistochemistry with anti-latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) antibody, we compared the detection rate of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) in Hodgkin's disease and anaplastic large-cell lymphomas in children. Among the 13 cases of Hodgkin's disease tested, 7 (54%) were found to be EBV associated (EBER transcripts +, LMP1 +). None of the 11 cases of ALC lymphomas was found to contain EBV genomes or gene products. This may indicate that EBV is not a pathogenic agent in anaplastic large-cell lymphomas in children in comparison to Hodgkin's disease.