Hodgkin Lymphoma

      Hodgkin's lymphoma is a type of lymphoma, which is a group of blood cell tumors that develop from lymphocytes. Generally one will experience fevers, night sweats, and weight loss. A proportion of Hodgkin's tumors contain the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which suggests that this virus is a contributing factor to the develop of the cancer. EBV, or human herpesvirus 4, is one of the known viruses in the herpes family. The virus infects the B cells of the immune system and epithelial cells, and once the infection is under control EBV latency will persist for the rest of the individual's life.

     But how does this virus lead to Hodgkin's lymphoma? The mechanism by which EBV might cause Hodgkin's lymphoma is not well understood. However, almost 40% of individuals who have Hodgkin's lymphoma are also infected with EBV. EBV possibly triggers the pathogenic mechanism of Hodgkin's disease, which means that EBV could play a direct or indirect role in he pathogenesis. According to Flavell, cloned viral probes and Southern blot methods were used to detect EBV DNA in 20-25% of Hodgkin's disease tumor specimens. This approach, however, could not determine the locality of the EBV genome in the tissues. This method of detecting EBV DNA was the first to demonstrate its existence in Hodgkin-Reed Sternberg (HRS) cells. HRS cells are different large cells found in individuals with Hodgkin's lymphoma.

    Those that are diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma will generally undergo radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Sometimes both treatments are used, but this depends on how far the disease has progressed in the individual. Luckily, there is a high cure rate and long survival for patients battling this disease.

Link to the paper used:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1186979/