A Case of Epstein-Barr Virus-Negative Post-transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder in a Solid Organ Transplant Recipient With Untreated Chronic Hepatitis C

Edgar Asiimwe; Monica Mead

doi:10.7759/cureus.53323

A Case of Epstein-Barr Virus-Negative Post-transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder in a Solid Organ Transplant Recipient With Untreated Chronic Hepatitis C

Cureus. 2024 Jan 31;16(1):e53323. doi: 10.7759/cureus.53323. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Authors

Edgar Asiimwe^{1

2}, Monica Mead³

Affiliations

¹ Internal Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.
² General Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, USA.
³ Hematology and Medical Oncology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.

Abstract

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is one of the most common malignancies affecting solid organ transplant recipients. The disease is frequently associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection (70% of cases) and cases are often delineated by EBV positivity status. The oncogenesis of EBV-positive PTLD is well-described in the literature; however, the etiology of the EBV-negative subtype is poorly understood. This report describes a case of EBV-negative PTLD developing in a combined kidney-pancreas transplant recipient with an incidental finding of untreated chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). Our experience suggests an association between HCV and EBV-negative PTLD. Additional well-designed studies are needed to further investigate this association.

Keywords: ebv ptld; hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection; non-hodgkin’s lymphoma; pancreas and kidney transplant; post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (ptld).

Publication types

Case Reports