Ferri has been involved in the clinical and laboratory investigations of different autoimmune and neoplastic diseases. In particular, he investigated the pathogenetic role of some viruses in mixed cryoglobulinemia (cryoglobulinemic vasculitis) and systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). In 1991, soon after the discovery of the hepatitis C virus (HCV), he demonstrated the presence of serum viral genome (HCV-RNA) in a large series of mixed cryoglobulinemia patients. This finding suggested a causative role for the same virus in other extrahepatic manifestations of HCV infections, including autoimmune and lymphoproliferative disorders. The association of HCV with B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was first demonstrated in 1994. On the basis of these studies, which were confirmed and expanded by other authors worldwide, Clodoveo Ferri suggested the term "HCV syndrome." This term refers to particular autoimmune-neoplastic complexes triggered by HCV infections in predisposed individuals.Current treatment of hepatitis C-associated rheumatic diseases
