Epstein-Barr virus, the TCL-1 oncogene and Burkitt's lymphoma

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of several human malignancies, but notably in all endemic and some sporadic cases of Burkitt's lymphoma (BL). Although the virus's contribution to the development of BL remains unclear, evidence now suggests that a common feature of all BL tumours is the expression of the TCL-1 oncogene. A recent report shows that TCL-1 expression in virus-positive BL tumour cells is dependent on the presence of EBV. This finding suggests that the ability of EBV to induce TCL-1 would circumvent the need for the additional genetic or epigenetic changes that lead to the constitutive expression of this oncogene in EBV-negative BL tumours.