Bcl-2 Expression in Patients with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma with Hepatitis C

The mechanism of lymphoma genesis in hepatitis C virusrelated, B cell NHL is unknown. It has been suggested that HCV may induce B cell clonal proliferation and BCL-2 gene overexpressionin chronicHCV patients. Aim of the Work: Is to evaluate the expression of BCL2 gene in patients with NHL with HCV infection. Methods: The study included 92 patients, divided into 52 patients with B-cell NHL with chronic HCV infection and 40 patients with B-cell NHL without HCV infection who attended the National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, during the period from March 2012 to May 2014. Lymph node biopsies from all cases were studied for Bcl-2 expression using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry techniques. Results: BCL-2 was expressed in 32.7% of cases with Bcell NHL with hepatitis C and in 20% of cases of HCV negative NHL by immunohistochemical method and the Bcl-2 gene was up-regulated more than 2 folds in NHL HCV+ve patients than in NHL HCV–ve group by tissue microarray technique with statistically significant difference. Conclusion: Bcl-2 is over expressed in NHL with HCV infection more than in NHL without HCV and could play a role in lymphoma genesis and future therapeutic strategies.