The relationship between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and the germinal centre (GC) of the asymptomatic host remains an enigma. The occasional appearance of EBV-positive germinal centres in some patients, particularly those with a history of immunosuppression, suggests that EBV numbers in the GC are subject to immune control. The relationship, if any, between lymphoid hyperplasia with EBV-positive germinal centres and subsequent or concurrent lymphomagenesis remains to be clarified. As far as the development of EBV-associated Hodgkin's lymphoma is concerned, the suppression of virus replication, mediated by LMP1 on the one hand, and the loss of B-cell receptor signalling on the other, appears to be an important pathogenic mechanism. A further important emerging concept is that alterations in the microenvironment of the EBV-infected B-cell may be important for lymphomagenesis.

Centre for Human Virology and the School of Cancer Sciences University of Birmingham Birmingham UK

Department of Oral Biology and Biomedical Sciences and Oral Cancer Research and Coordinating Centre Faculty of Dentistry University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Laboratory of Molecular Pathology Department of Pathology and Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry Palacký University 77900 Olomouc Czech Republic

University of Groningen and University Medical Centre Groningen Department of Pathology and Medical Biology Groningen The Netherlands

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