Virus influences rare brain lymphomas, large study finds

MedicalXpress | يول 02, 2026

Primary CNS lymphoma is a rare cancer that arises from malignant white blood cells. Affected individuals develop tumors in the brain and, more rarely, in the spinal cord, the eyes or within the cerebrospinal fluid. These lymphomas can occur in people with weakened immune systems, for example after organ transplantation, in autoimmune diseases or in association with HIV infection. This subtype, known as immunodeficiency-associated primary CNS lymphoma (ID-PCNSL), affects approximately 50 people per year in Germany. Researchers at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University had already shown in earlier work that ID-PCNSL is not simply a variant of classical CNS lymphoma, but a distinct disease entity characterized by specific genetic alterations.