The staining patterns of LMP1 antigen showed 58

• The staining patterns of LMP-1 antigen showed 58% were strongly stained. • The prevelance of EBV in Jordanian Hodgkin lymphoma Hanood ABU RASS, Husam HADDAD, Rana Al-YOUSEF, Maher SUGHAYER. Department of Pathology, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, Jordan PURPOSE • The general aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of EBV infection in Jordanian cases of Hodgkin lymphoma. Moreover, this study assess the correlation between EBV infection with histological subtypes, age, and the gender of Hodgkin lymphoma cases. Furthermore, this work will study the staining patterns and strength of LMP 1 in cases of Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes in Jordan. PATIENTS & METHODS • A total of 100 cases of archival paraffin-embedded tissue blocks that previously had been diagnosed as Hodgkin lymphoma, were re-subclassified according to the standard morphologic criteria by two pathologists in KHCC by reviewing hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides. A single representative block chosen from each case was used for all subsequent histochemical studies. Paraffin sections were cut and assessed for EBV status by LMP-1 immunohistochemical analysis using automated instrumentation in the pathology department of KHCC labs. The patient's age at diagnosis ranged from 3 to 74 years. Average was 27. 54 years. On the other hand, a total of 30 archival lymph node biopsies from patients with reactive lymphoid tissues were also treated at the same condition for control purpose. Their age group range from 9 to 78. RESULTS • The age distribution of the HL population showed 19% (19 of 100) to be younger than 14 years, a young adult peak (14 -34 years) that represented 52% (52 of 100), and of the older than 45 years represented 19 %( 19 of 100 In both pediatric and adult groups, the nodular sclerosis prevalence was predominant 66 of 100(66%). • The HD cases mainly geographically distributed within the middle region of Jordan, representing 75 % of the total population. Also most of the cases had cervical HL with 45%. • Latent EBV infection was identified in 43% of cases (43 of 100). DISCUSSION • When the Reed-Sternberg and Hodgkin cells from the 19 pediatric cases were challenged with a pool of monoclonal antibodies to LMP-1, the cytoplasm and membranes from the 12 (63. 2%) cases were labeled , while from 62 adult cases with age ≤ 44 only 18 were positive (29%). Patients who were EBV- positive had a greater tendency to be older than 45 years compared with EBV- negative patients (73. 7% versus 26. 3%, respectively, P=0. 001). Significant differences were also found in the EBV association with subtype (P =0. 000); EBV-positive patients were more likely to have MC subtype compared with EBV-negative patients (80. 8% versus 19. 2%) and were less likely to have NS subtype (31. 8% versus 68. 2%). There was an increased occurrence of EBVpositive cases in male patients, so the association between EBV status and gender tends to be significant since P value =0. 053. • The staining patterns of LMP-1 antigen showed 58% were strongly stained. CONCLUSION • Hodgkin lymphoma in Jordan is associated with EBV infection in a good minority of cases. Also the epidemiology is transitional between that of developing and developed countries.