Epstein Bar Virus—The Cause of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Objective: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a herpes virus which persists in memory B cells in the peripheral blood for the lifetime of a person, is accused to be associated with several malignancies. Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) has long been suspected to have an Epstein-Barr virus infection as a causal agent. Some recent studies identified an EBV latent infection to a high degree in Hodgkin’s lymphoma. However, despite intensive study, the role of Epstein-Barr virus infection in Hodgkin lymphoma remains enigmatic. Methods: To explore the cause-effect relationship between EBV and HL and so to understand the role of EBV in HL etiology more clearly, a systematic review and re-analysis of studies published is performed. The method of the conditio per quam relationship was used to proof the hypothesis if Epstein-Barr virus infection (DNA) in human lymph nodes is present then Hodgkin lymphoma is present too. The mathematical formula of the causal relationship k was used to proof the hypothesis, whether there is a cause effect relationship between an Epstein-Barr virus infection (EBV DNA) and Hodgkin lymphoma. Significance was indicated by a p-value of less than 0.05. Result: The data analyzed support the Null-hypotheses that if Epstein-Barr virus infection (EBV DNA) is present in human lymph nodes then Hodgkin lymphoma is present too. In the same respect, the studies analyzed provide highly significant evidence that Epstein-Barr virus the cause of Hodgkin lymphoma. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that Epstein-Barr virus is the cause of Hodgkin’s lymphoma besides of the complexity of Hodgkin’s disease.