We report here the establishment of a CD30 (Ki-1) antigen-positive cell line 'Ki-JK' from a child with anaplastic large cell lymphoma. We characterized this cell line and show that: (i) Ki-JK cells do not grow in soft agar but infrequently produce a tumor or suppressed growth when injected into nude mice; (ii) Ki-JK cells expressed Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigens, EBV-associated nuclear antigen-2 and latent membrane protein; (iii) Ki-JK cells are labelled by in situ hybridization using an RNA probe derived from the BamHI W fragment of EBV, and (iv) polymerase chain reaction demonstrates the presence of an EBV BamHI W sequence in DNA of lymphoma and Ki-JK cells. These results suggest an etiological role for EBV in the development of some cases of Ki-1-positive lymphomas.