Epstein-Barr virus and regulatory T cells in Egyptian paediatric patients with acute B lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Objective: Acute B lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) is the most common type of childhood malignancy worldwide but little is known of its origin. Recently, many studies showed both a high incidence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and high levels of CD4CD25Foxp3(Treg cells) in children with B-ALL. In our study, we investigated the possible relationship between EBV infection and the onset of B-ALL, and its relation to expression of CD4, CD25Foxp3+ T regulatory cells.