Clinical Features and Prognostic Factors of Children with Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus Infection: A Retrospective Analysis of a Single Center

A differential diagnosis method for systemic CAEBV and the prospect of EBV-related immune cell markers via flow cytometry

Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (CAEBV) infection of the T-cell or Natural killer (NK)-cell type, systemic form (systemic CAEBV or sCAEBV) was defined by the WHO in 2017 as an EBV-related lymphoproliferative disorder and is listed as an EBV-positive T-cell and NK-cell proliferation. The clinical manifestations and prognoses are heterogeneous. This makes systemic CAEBV indistinguishable from other EBV-positive T-cell and NK-cell proliferations. Early diagnosis of systemic CAEBV and early hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can improve patient prognosis. At present, the diagnosis of systemic CAEBV relies mainly on age, clinical manifestations, and cell lineage, incurring missed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, long diagnosis time, and inability to identify high-risk systemic CAEBV early. The diagnostic methods for systemic CAEBV are complicated and lack systematic description. The recent development of diagnostic procedures, including molecular biological and immunological techniques such as flow cytometry, has provided us with the ability to better understand the proliferation of other EBV-positive T cells and NK cells, but there is no definitive review of their value in diagnosing systemic CAEBV. This article summarizes the recent progress in systemic CAEBV differential diagnosis and the prospects of flow cytometry.

Biological therapies for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: current knowledge and future perspectives

INTRODUCTION

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a hyperinflammatory syndrome with a dismal prognosis. The underlying causes of HLH are diverse. However, the overabundance of cytokines was shared by all forms of HLH. Cytokine-targeted biotherapies have been increasingly used in HLH treatment.

AREAS COVERED

In this review, we aim to provide an overview of biological treatment options for HLH.

EXPERT OPINION

Biological therapies offer alternative treatment options for patients with refractory/relapsed HLH or who are intolerant to conventional chemotherapies. As a complement to traditional treatment, biological agents improve response rates, maintain more protracted periods of remission, and reduce treatment related toxicity. A combination of biological agents may be a promising direction for HLH treatment. However, they may induce HLH to deteriorate and even trigger HLH.

Clinical Analysis of Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus Infection Involving the Gastrointestinal Tract

BACKGROUND

Chronic active Epstein‒Barr virus infection (CAEBV) is an intractable and progressive disease. T cells or NK cells infected by EBV can proliferate and infiltrate into multiple organs. CAEBV combined with gastrointestinal involvement is a rare clinical disease that has not been well described, and sometimes it may clinically mimic gastroenteritis or inflammatory bowel disease.

METHODS

This was an observational study that included all pediatric CAEBV patients who were treated at Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, from June 2017 to June 2021. Patients were divided into the case group and the control group according to whether these patients had GI involvement. The children's clinical manifestations, laboratory and ultrasound examinations, treatment and prognosis were observed.

RESULTS

Seventy-two patients were enrolled in this study. Fifteen patients had GI involvement, including 11 males and 4 females, accounting for 20.8%, with a median onset age of 3.71 (0.64-14.47) years. The most common clinical manifestation at onset was diarrhea (13/15). Gastrointestinal ultrasound showed pneumatosis intestinalis, mild to moderate swelling of the surrounding mesentery and omentum and enhancement on ultrasound. The endoscopic features were hyperemia, edema and ulcers of variable morphological characteristics. Pathological examination showed lymphocyte infiltration with EBV-encoded small RNA (+), and the common locations of involvement were the colon (n = 6) and gastric antrum (n=3). The median follow-up time was 13.26 (0.31-51.89) months. Ten patients survived, and 5 patients died (including 1 who died of intestinal perforation because of necrotizing enterocolitis). Compared with the control group, the case group had higher alanine aminotransferase levels, aspartate aminotransferase and whole blood EBV-DNA copies (P = 0.038, 0.040 and < 0.001) and lower natural killer cell activity (P < 0.001). The 3-year overall survival rate of the case group was significantly lower than that of the control group (59.3% ± 12.9% vs. 79.4% ± 4.9%, P = 0.021).

CONCLUSION

The incidence of CAEBV with GI involvement was low. The most common location of involvement was the colon. CAEBV with GI involvement had a poor prognosis. Patients with high whole blood EBV-DNA copy levels early in their illness were more likely to develop GI involvement.

The Outcome of Induction Therapy for EBV-Related Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis: A Model for Risk Stratification

Background

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)–related hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is an abnormal inflammation caused by EBV infection, which has high mortality during induction therapy.

Objectives

This study is aimed to build a model to predict the risk of death during induction therapy.

Methods

The patients with EBV-HLH admitted from January 2015 to December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. The primary outcome was death during induction therapy. The interval from receiving therapy to death or the end of induction therapy was the observing time. The patients admitted from January 2015 to December 2017 were assigned to the primary group, and the patients admitted from January to December 2018 were assigned to the validation group.

Results

We included 234 patients with EBV-HLH, of whom 65 (27.4%) died during induction therapy. The middle observing time was 25 days. On the basis of the primary group, the multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated age &gt;18 years, blood urea nitrogen, procalcitonin &gt;2 µg/L, serum CD25, and EBV-DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cell as the risk factors of death during induction therapy. We developed a nomogram integrating the above factors with high predictive accuracy (c-statistic, 0.86) and stratified all patients into the high-risk and the low-risk groups. On the basis of the validation group, the high-risk patients had a higher risk of death (hazard ratio, 4.93; P = 0.012). In the subgroup analysis based on patients receiving etoposide-based strategy, the mortality in high-risk and low-risk patients was 43.9 and 3.1 per 100 person-weeks, respectively.

Conclusion

We developed a nomogram for risk stratification of patients with EBV-HLH receiving induction therapy.

The Role of Pre-therapeutic 18F-FDG PET/CT in Pediatric Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis With Epstein-Barr Virus Infection

Objective

To evaluate the role of pre-therapeutic ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in pediatric hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection.

Methods

This retrospective study included 29 HLH children (1–16 years) with EBV infection, who underwent pre-therapeutic ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT from July 2018 to November 2020. Pathology results were considered as the reference standard. These patients were divided into two groups: EBV-induced malignancy-associated HLH (M-HLH, N = 9) and EBV-induced non-malignancy-associated HLH (NM-HLH, N = 20). The regions of interest (ROIs) of the liver, spleen (Sp), bone marrow (BM), lymph nodes (LN), hypermetabolic lesions, liver background (LiBG), and mediastinum (M) were drawn with software 3D-Slicer. The volumetric and metabolic parameters, including maximum standard uptake value (SUV_max), metabolic tumor volume, and total lesion glycolysis of these ROIs, clinical parameters, and laboratory parameters were compared between the two groups. The efficiency of the above parameters in predicting the treatment response and overall survival (OS) was analyzed.

Results

Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that SUV_max-lesions and SUV_max-LN/M (AUC = 0.822, 0.819, cut-off = 6.04, 5.74, respectively) performed better in differentiating M-HLH from NM-HLH. It had the best diagnostic performance when age was added with the SUV_max-LN/M (AUC = 0.933, sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 85.0%). The presence of extranodal hypermetabolic lesions in multiple organs indicated the M-HLH (P = 0.022). Older age, higher SUV_max-LN and SUV_max-lesions, and the presence of serous effusion were associated with poorer treatment response at the 2nd and 4th week (not reaching partial remission). Multivariate analysis showed that SUV_max-lesions > 7.66 and SUV_max-Sp/LiBG > 2.01 were independent prognostic factors for overall survival (P = 0.025, 0.036, respectively).

Conclusions

¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT could be a valuable technique for identifying the underlying malignancy and predicting prognosis in pediatric HLH with EBV infection. M-HLH could be considered when SUV_max-lesions > 6.04, SUV_max-LN/M > 5.74, and the presence of extranodal hypermetabolic lesions in multiple organs on ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT. SUV_max-lesions and SUV_max-Sp/LiBG might be independent prognostic factors for OS.