1. Viral carcinogenesis: Reactivation.
- Author
-
Hutchinson, Ezzie
- Subjects
VIRAL carcinogenesis ,RHEUMATOID arthritis ,POLYMYOSITIS ,IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE agents ,METHOTREXATE ,EPSTEIN-Barr virus ,LYMPHOMAS - Abstract
The article presents information on reactivation of viral carcinogenesis. It reports that patients with rheumatoid arthritis and polymyositis treated with the immunosuppresive drug methotrexate (MTX) develop Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive lymphomas more frequently than healthy individuals or similar patients treated with non-immunosuppressive drugs. According to researchers, latent infection is associated with cellular transformation of B cells, but the lytic form of infection, which leads to release of virus particles and death of the host cell, might also increase the number of latently EBV-infected B cells and increase the likelihood of malignancy.
- Published
- 2005
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