What keeps the power on in lymphomas?

Abstract

More than 45 years ago, in cells cultured from Burkitt lymphoma (BL), the first human tumor virus - Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) - was discovered. We know now that this human herpes virus is associated with an unusually wide range of different malignancies including Hodgkin and posttransplantation lymphomas as well as different carcinomas. The correlative link between this virus and common malignancies has fueled the field of viral tumorigenesis and revealed a rich biology of EBV's oncogenes but a systematic comparison of EBV-positive lymphomas and this virus' contribution to their transformed phenotype has been lacking.