%0 Journal Article
%T HCV infection, B-cell non-Hodgkin¡¯s lymphoma and immunochemotherapy: Evidence and open questions
%A Maria Christina Cox
%A Maria Antonietta Aloe-Spiriti
%A Elena Cavalieri
%A Eleonora Alma
%J World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology
%D 2012
%I Baishideng Publishing Group Co. Limited
%R 10.4251/wjgo.v4.i3.46
%X There is plenty of data confirming that hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a predisposing factor for a B-cell non-Hodgkin¡¯s lymphoma (B-NHL) outbreak, while relatively few reports have addressed the role of HCV in affecting B-NHL patients¡¯ outcome. HCV infection may influence the short-term outcome of B-NHL because of the emergence of severe hepatic toxicity (HT) during immunochemotherapy. Furthermore, the long term outcome of HCV-related liver disease and patients¡¯ quality of life will possibly be affected by Rituximab maintenance, multiple-lines of toxicity during chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In this review, data dealing with aggressive and low-grade B-NHL were separately analyzed. The few retrospective papers reporting on aggressive B-NHL patients showed that HCV infection is a risk factor for the outbreak of severe HT during treatment. This adverse event not infrequently leads to the reduction of treatment density and intensity. Existing papers report that low-grade B-NHL patients with HCV infection may have a more widespread disease, more frequent relapses or a lower ORR compared to HCV-negative patients. Notwithstanding that, there is no statistical evidence that the prognosis of HCV-positive patients is inferior to that of HCV-negative subjects. HCV-positive prospective studies and longer follow-up are necessary to ascertain if HCV-positive B-NHL patients have inferior outcomes and if there are long term sequels of immunochemotherapies on the progression of liver disease.
%K Marginal zone lymphoma
%K Diffuse large B cell lymphoma
%K Hepatitis C virus
%K Non-Hodgkin¡¯s lymphomas
%K Hepatotoxicity
%K Chemotherapy
%K Immunochemotherapy
%K Prognosis
%K Rituximab
%U http://www.wjgnet.com/1948-5204/full/v4/i3/46.htm