Searching for Oncogenic Viruses in Sézary Cells Using a Novel Viral Discovery Technique, VirCapSeq-VERT

Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by malignant CD4+ T-cells that infiltrate the skin. While most cases are confined to skin, CTCL is also capable of affecting the blood, lymph nodes, and visceral organs. Sézary Syndrome (SS) is a leukemic variant of the disease with a poor prognosis and can arise with or without cutaneous involvement. The pathogenesis of CTCL is poorly understood, but chronic antigen stimulation possibly due to a bacterial or viral infection or colonization of the skin may lead to malignant transformation of the skin resident T cells. Colonization of the skin of CTCL patients with Staphylococcus aureus is common and can lead to the clonal expansion of malignant T cells in the skin. However, its role as an etiological agent is unlikely, considering commonality of S.aureus and rarity of the skin T-cell lymphomas. Mounting evidence suggests that oncogenic viral pathogen may play a role, but all efforts to implicate certain viruses, such as retroviruses or herpesviruses have yielded inconsistent results. This study will use the most sensitive method to date, a novel viral detection technique capable of detecting every known vertebrate virus in tissue samples, called "Virome Capture Sequencing Platform for Vertebrate Viruses (VirCapSeq-VERT)." This allows it to detect previously undiscovered viruses that diverge from known sequences by as much as 40%.