hepatitis c-associated chronic lymphoproliferative disorders: a single center experience

Hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection is a major public health concern in egypt with its unique genotype. besides liver disease, hcv is a lymphotropic virus involved in the pathogenesis of various extrahepatic diseases. a causative role of hcv in the generation of chronic lymphoproliferative diseases as well as its impact on disease behavior in hcv chronic carriers are not fully understood. we investigated the prevalence of hcv among cohort of egyptian patients (n:84) with chronic lymphoproliferative diseases, the relation between hcv infection and the immunological state of this population and also their clinical and laboratory characteristics. high prevalence of hcv (40%) among egyptian patients with chronic lymphoproliferative diseases with following subtype frequency was revealed; cll (38.2%) followed by dlbcl (20.6%), and lpl (17.6%). we found significant correlation between hcv and platelet count (p=0.014), albumin (p=0.02), ldh (p=0.014) and b2m (p=0.05). otherwise, there were no significant correlations with other parameters especially the immunological assessment; serum immunoglobulins, coombs test, and cryoglobulinemia. hcv prevalence among patients with chronic lymphoproliferative diseases is higher than that estimated in the general population. those patients should be tested for hcv during the assessment. our observations suggest that hcv may have an oncogenic role in egyptian patients with chronic lymphoproliferative diseases and it may affect the prognostic markers in those populations.