CD8A and lymphoma: Finally, our overall findings, taken together with the substantial experimental and molecular epidemiologic evidence that benzene exposure alters key components of the immune system relevant for lymphomagenesis (e.g., CD4+ T-cell level and CD4+ T-cell:CD8+ T-cell ratio) (Lan et al. 2004), provide support that benzene is likely to be causally related to one or more subtypes of lymphoma.