CLL Topics Banner: Therapies, Research and Patient Education for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
CLL Topics Home Navigation Topics Alert Learning Tools About Us Feedback Feedback
Full Menu

Topics Alert

  • el
  • pt
  • world balloon

    Topics Alert Archive

    Alert Number 171

    EBV: The Enemy Within

    Chances are good you have been exposed Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) as a kid or young adult. About 90% of people carry remnants of this infection for the rest of their lives. In most cases the infection goes unnoticed. In a small percentage of people, the viral infection causes infectious mononucleosis (“mono” or “IM”). The remnants of the virus is usually kept under check by T-cells but this status quo can change dramatically and with disastrous consequences for you as the host if your T-cells responsible for controlling the EBV are not working efficiently. As CLL patients we have less than perfect T-cell function. After T-cell damaging therapy, some CLL patients are not that much better off than HIV patients in the EBV-fighting ability of their T-cells.

    Recently EBV has been linked to the morphing of CLL to the much more dangerous Richter’s transformation, a type of aggressive lymphoma where median survival is measured in months and weeks, not years. It is not a level playing field: some CLL patients who have been exposed to EBV are more at risk than others.

    Please read EBV: The Enemy Within to find out about your risk status. It can have a deep impact on your therapy choices and there may be things you can do right now that may give you some protection from the disastrous consequences of EBV reactivation that may in turn lead to more aggressive cancers.

    Be well,

    Chaya
    _______

    NOTICE: This page from the Topics Alert archive was originally emailed to subscribers of Topics Alert, a free service of CLL Topics Inc. If you are not a subscriber and you wish to receive email Alerts, please register at the Topics Alert subscription page. The content of this page is intended for information only and it is NOT meant to be medical advice. Please be sure to consult and follow the advice of your doctors on all medical matters.


    Go to Alert Archive Listing

    You may also retrieve a different Alert,
    by entering a new Alert number here
    (in the range 1 to 309)

     

    ———

    Disclaimer: The content of this website is intended for information only and is NOT meant to be medical advice. Please be sure to consult and follow the advice of your doctors on all medical matters.


    Copyright Notice:

    Copyright © 2024-2007 CLL Topics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CLL Topics, Inc. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

    However, you may download and print material from CLLTopics.org exclusively for your personal, noncommercial use.

    ———

    crest

     

    GuideCompass
    up arrow