Cancer research
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Six renal transplant recipients with abnormal lymphoproliferative disorders were studied in an attempt to define their clinical features and the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in their pathogenesis. Patients were either teenage (three) or in the sixth decade (three). The younger patients presented an average of 3 months after transplantation with fever, sore throat, and lymphadenopathy; had been markedly immunosuppressed; frequently had preceding or concomitant cytomegalovirus infections; and two of three had a rapidly fatal course. ⋯ Impaired host defenses allow the EBV-transformed B-lymphocytes to escape normal control mechanisms. This impairment is invariable and influenced by many factors resulting in the observed spectrum of disease. Cytogenetic changes, however, may also be important.