Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between lymphomas and Epstein-Barr virus(EBV) infection. METHODS: We collected 171 lymphomas including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBC) 106 cases; extranodal NK/T cell nasal type lymphoma 22 cases; Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) 19 cases; angioimmunoblastic T- cell lymphoma (AITL) 13 cases and mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) 11 cases. The expressions of EBV protein LMP-1 and EBER1 mRNA in 171 lymphomas were analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH). RESULTS: The positive results of EBV-LMP-1 protein expression and EBER1 mRNA expression were 11.1%(19/171) and 25.7%(44/171) respectively，including 30.8%(4/13) and 61.5%(8/13) in AITL；47.4%(9/19) and 57.9%(11/19) in HL；22.7%(5/22) and 81.8%(18/22) in extranodal NK/T cell nasal type lymphoma；0.94%(1/106) and 5.7%(6/106) in DLBC. The expression rates of EBV in AITL，HL and nasal-type extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma were significantly higher than in MALT and DLBC(P<0.05). ISH was more sensitive than IHC in identification of EBV(P<0.01). CONCLUSION: There was a close association between EBV infection and lymphomas， with variation among different types of lymphomas.

Key words: lymphoma, Epstein-Barr virus, EBER, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization