Malignancies After Heart Transplantation: Presence Of Epstein-Barr Virus And Cytomegalovirus

The presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human papilloma virus (HPV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) was studied in 20 patients who developed malignancies after heart transplantation in the Helsinki University Central Hospital. The tumors were analyzed for the presence of HPV by polymerase chain reaction and for EBV by in situ hybridization. Clinical CMV infection was verified by immunochemical quantitation of CMV antigen in peripheral blood cells. HPV was detected in one of the eight epithelial malignant tumors studied. Three of the six lymphomas were positive for EBV. Two (67%) of 3 patients with EBV-positive lymphomas and one (33%) of the other three lymphomas but only 2 (14%) of 14 patients who developed other malignancies had a history of a manifest post-transplantation CMV infection prior to the development of malignancy. These results confirm the presence of EBV in lymphomas of heart transplant recipients and suggest that CMV might have a contributory role in the development of EBV-associated lymphomas.