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Although a high prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients had been reported, subsequent epidemiological studies conducted to examine a causal association between HCV and NHL have provided inconsistent results across studies. A strikingly positive association has been reported primarily from Italy and Japan, while no association was found in other regions of the world. To clarify the association between HCV and NHL, we conducted a systematic literature review. Eligible study designs were nested case‐control studies, population‐based case‐control studies, and hospital‐based case‐control studies using non‐cancer subjects as controls. The studies published through January 1991 to August 2003 were searched through Medline. Ultimately, 23 studies with 4049 NHL patients and 1,813,480 controls were identified. Summary statistics were crude odds ratios (ORs) comparing the anti‐HCV se‐ropositive and seronegative subjects. As we identified heterogeneity between studies, summary statistics were calculated based on a random‐effect model. We did not find any evidence of publication bias. The major sources of variation were the use of blood donor controls and year of publication. The summary OR for NHL was 5.70 (95% confidence interval (Cl), 4.09–7.96, P<0.001). The subgroup analysis by phenotype showed a similar trend for B‐cell (5.04, 95% Cl: 3.59–7.06) and T‐NHL (2.51, 95% Cl: 1.39–4.56). In conclusion, we found a strongly positive association between anti‐HCV seropositive test subjects and risk of NHL. Further biological studies examining this association are warranted.

Human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is endemic in southern Japan and the Caribbean, but the incidence of HTLV-I-associated diseases varies across geographic areas. We compared markers of disease pathogenesis among 51 ageand sex-matched HTLV-I carrier pairs from Japan and Jamaica. The mean antibody titer (P = .03) and detection of anti-Tax antibody (P = .002) were higher in Jamaican subjects than in Japanese subjects, but provirus load was similar between the 2 groups (P = .26). The correlation between antibody titer and provirus load was more prominent among Jamaican subjects than among Japanese subjects (P = .06). These findings underscore the differences in host immune response to HTLV-I infection in 2 populations.

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) tumors that contain the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome may differ etiologically from EBV-negative HL tumors. A case-case study examining heterogeneity of risk factors between disease subgroups compared personal characteristics and EBV antibodies between 95 EBV-positive and 303 EBV-negative patients with HL. We confirmed previous associations of EBV-positive HL with older age, male sex, and mixed-cellularity (MC) histological subtypes. EBV-positive patients were less educated and more likely to have smoked cigarettes and had more prevalent and higher EBV antibody titers, compared with EBV-negative patients. After adjustment for all independent risk factors, those most strongly associated with EBV-positive HL were histological subtypes (odds ratio [OR] for MC vs. nodular sclerosis histology, 3.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-7.2), elevated anti-viral capsid antigen level (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.6-6.0), and less education (OR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.5-1.0). Cigarette smoking and a low anti-Epstein-Barr nuclear protein (EBNA) 1 : anti-EBNA-2 ratio were also marginally associated with EBV-positive HL. EBV-positive HL is more common among individuals who have markers of diminished cellular immunity and an abnormal EBV antibody response. EBV appears to participate in the etiology of EBV-positive HL but may not be involved in EBV-negative HL.

Latent-class analysis was used to evaluate the usefulness of markers of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in characterizing the true, underlying infection in a community-based Japanese population. Antibodies to HCV were detected in 24%, HCV RNA in 22%, and HCV core protein in 19% of stored serum samples from 372 adults. A 2-class model suggested that positive results for any 2 virus markers defined the current HCV infection class, with an estimated prevalence of 22% (95% confidence interval, 18%–26%). The sensitivity for detection of current HCV infection was highest for anti-HCV (97%) and was more moderate for HCV RNA (91%) and HCV core protein (85%). The specificity for each marker was ⩾96%. In general, the association between demographic factors and current HCV infection status was strengthened by use of latent-class analysis that combined data for markers of HCV infection, when compared with results of logistic regression analysis for each marker separately

To identify factors that may modify the heterosexual transmission of human T cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type 1 (HTLV-I), 534 married couples enrolled in the Miyazaki Cohort Study between November 1984 and April 1989 were studied: 95 husband HTLV-I-seropositive (H+)/wife seropositive (W+), 33 H+/W−, 64 H−/W+, and 342 H−/W−. After 5 years of follow-up, seven seroconversions occurred and clustered significantly among serodiscordant pairs (relative risk [RR] = 41.2); the rate oftransmission was 3.9 times higher if the carrier spouse was male (P = .19). Among H+/W− couples, husband's age ⩾60 years strongly predicted seroconversion in the WIves (RR = 11.5). All 4 carrier husbands whosewivesseroconverted had HTLV-I titers ⩾1:1024 (P = .04) and were anti-tax antibody positive (P = .06). In cross-sectional analysis, total parity also was independently associated with wife's serostatus but only length of marriage with husband's. Overall, sexual transmission of HTLV-I was primarily from older infected husbands to their wives, with husbands' viral status being an important factor.

Morbidity associated with human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection was investigated in a Japanese population within an area in which HTLV-I infection is endemic. Of 1824 subjects enrolled in the Miyazaki Cohort Study between November 1984 and May 1991, 500 (27.4%) were seropositive for HTLV-I antibodies. As expected from previous studies, HTLV-I positivity appeared to be associated with baseline history of anemia (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.99–1.7) and kidney disease (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 0.91–2.9); a positive association also was noted for asthma in men (OR = 3.4; 95% CI = 1.2–9.8). Unanticipated findings included a relationship between HTLV-I infection and cardiac disease history (OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 0.94–2.2); HTLV-I carriers also were more likely to have an abnormal electrocardiogram at baseline (OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.2–1.9). Furthermore, an apparent protective effect for ulcers (OR = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.40–0.95) and diabetes (OR = 0.49; 95% CI = 0.22–1.1) was observed. HTLV-I infection may modify the risk of specific disease outcomes by altering host immune function.