A tailored health surveillance program unveils a case of MALT lymphoma in an HCV-positive health-care worker

Rapisarda,Venerando; Marconi,Andrea; Candido,Saverio; Nicolosi,Daria; Salmeri,Mario; Gangemi,Pietro; Proietti,Lidia; Spandidos,Demetrios  A.; Bracci,Massimo; Fenga,Cettina; Libra,Massimo

doi:10.3892/ol.2012.1028

A tailored health surveillance program unveils a case of MALT lymphoma in an HCV-positive health-care worker

Authors:
- Venerando Rapisarda
- Andrea Marconi
- Saverio Candido
- Daria Nicolosi
- Mario Salmeri
- Pietro Gangemi
- Lidia Proietti
- Demetrios A. Spandidos
- Massimo Bracci
- Cettina Fenga
- Massimo Libra
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Affiliations: Section of Occupational Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Systemic Diseases, University of Catania, I-95125 Catania, Italy, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Pathology and Oncology, Laboratory of Translational Oncology and Functional Genomics, University of Catania, I-95124 Catania, Italy, Pathology Unit, Vittorio Emanuele Hospital, I-95100 Catania, Italy, Department of Virology, Medical School, University of Crete, Heraklion 71003, Greece, Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Occupational Medicine Section Polytechnic University of Marche, I-60020 Ancona, Italy, Section of Occupational Medicine, Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, University of Messina, I-98125 Messina, Italy
Published online on: November 15, 2012 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2012.1028
Pages: 651-654

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Abstract

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) may occur among hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected individuals. HCV is one of the most common blood-borne pathogens transmitted from patients to health‑care workers (HCWs). The development of NHL among HCV-infected HCWs has recently been shown. To investigate this issue further a tailored health surveillance program was applied to 3,138 HCWs from four Medical Institutions. To this aim, all employees were screened for both anti-HCV antibodies and HCV-related extrahepatic manifestations. The HCV prevalence rate, similar among all the HCW subgroups, was 7.3%. The occurrence of a gastric mucosa‑associated lymphoma tissue (MALT) lymphoma, diagnosed in a physician following a long history of HCV chronic infection, was observed. Molecular characterization of MALT tissue indicated that immunoglobuline gene combinations were those usually found among HCV-associated lymphomas. Furthermore, B-cell expansion exhibited t(14;18) translocation, as a genetic abnormality associated with the development of MALT lymphomas from HCV-positive patients. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that HCV viral infection potentially affects the pathway of transformation and progression of lymphoma cells. The occurrence of B-cell NHL, among HCV-positive HCWs, is an additional reason to apply the standard precautions to reduce the risk of blood-borne pathogen transmission.

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