Different prevalence and clinical outcome of Epstein-Barr virus positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma between North American and non-Western populations

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma among adults, presenting heterogeneous biological and clinical features. The 2008 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of Epstein-Barr virus positive (EBV+) DLBCL of the elderly is limited to patients >50 years old without known immunodeficiency. The WHO classification was revised in 2016 to include immunocompetent patients of all ages and “EBV+ DLBCL of the elderly” has been replaced by “EBV+ DLBCL, not otherwise specified (EBV+ DLBCL, NOS)” (1). There are two key words differentiating EBV+ DLBCL, NOS from another lymphoma, “EBV+” and “immunocompetent”.