Role of Hepatitis C Virus Infection on Lymphoproliferative Disorders after Non-liver Transplantation

Aims: The number of reports on HCV positive PTLD patients in non-liver transplantation setting as well as our knowledge on the issue is extremely limited. In this study, we aimed to investigate the impact of HCV infection on non-liver transplant recipients regarding PTLD development.
Study Design: The study is designed as a comprehensive review of the literature.
Place and Duration of Study: The review of the literature was performed at the Department of Internal Medicine, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Methodology: A comprehensive search was performed for finding the available data by Pubmed and Google scholar search engines for reports of lymphoproliferative disorders occurring in non liver organ transplant patients with regard to their HCV test results. P value of 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Data of overall 61 patients was entered into analysis. 9 PTLD patients were HCV positive and the remaining were HCV negative. HCV positive patients were significantly younger at the time of transplantation (p=0.04). The same patient group had relatively shorter time from transplantation to PTLD development, but significant level has not been achieved (74±57 vs. 46±38, respectively; p=0.06). No other difference was found.
Conclusion: HCV positivity can reduce the time interval between transplantation and PTLD development which can be interpreted as HCV can enhance the rate of PTLD in non-liver transplant recipients. Our study presents a significant evidence for HCV relationship with PTLD in non-liver transplantation setting. Further studies with prospective designations are needed to confirm our results.