Viruses and Lymphomas

Do viruses cause lymphomas? Yes, at least some viruses can. The first evidence was found in the 1960s, when Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) was detected in an explanted Burkitt's lymphoma. Today's panoply is surprising, ranging from EBV in lymphomas in immunocompromised patients and EBV in Hodgkin's disease to leukemia and lymphoma produced by human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) (see Table). Now, in this issue of the Journal, Hermine et al. have provided evidence of an association between splenic lymphoma and hepatitis C virus (HCV) (see pages 89–94). What are we to make of these diverse associations, and how will . . .