Few studies focused on the relationship between hepatitis B virus (HBV)
infection and classical
Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). This study was to evaluate the impact of HBV
infection on the treatment outcome and survival of cHL patients. Clinical data of 352 cHL patients treated with ABVD regimen (
doxorubicin,
bleomycin,
vincristine and
dacarbazine) between January 2002 and January 2018 were retrospectively collected. According to HBV
infection status, the patients were divided into three groups: with HBV
infection [
hepatitis B surface antigen (
HBsAg)-positive], with past HBV
infection [
HBsAg-negative but anti-
hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc)-positive], and without HBV
infection (
HBsAg-negative and anti-HBc-negative). The incidence of HBV
infection and past HBV
infection in cHL patients were 7.4% (26/352) and 16.5% (58/352), respectively. The median age of patients without HBV
infection was lower than those in other two groups (p<0.001). The complete remission rates after first-line
therapy were different among 3 groups (65.4% for the group with HBV
infection, 87.9% for the group with past HBV
infection, and 76.1% for the group without HBV
infection, respectively, p=0.049). After a median follow-up of 34.6 months, the 3-year progression-free survival rates for the three groups were 69%, 74% and 80%, respectively (p=0.566) and the 3-year overall survival rates were 72%, 91% and 87%, respectively (p=0.096). No HBV reactivation was observed during
chemotherapy among 3 groups, but 1 patient in the group with HBV
infection experienced delayed HBV reactivation when prophylactic
entecavir was discontinued 12 months after the last cycle of
chemotherapy. HBV
infection status did not affect the clinical outcome and prognosis of cHL patients, especially in the era of prophylactic
antiviral therapy.